Movies That Matter: The Act of Killing

The sold out documentary The Act of Killing, opens Movies that Matter festival on Thursday 21 March. If you were the lucky one to get the ticket for the premiere on time, you’ll have the chance to attend Q&A with director Joshua Oppenheimer, producer Michael Uwemedimo & Stanley Prasetyo, former member of National Commission of Human Rights. Do not despair though, The Act of Killing can be seen again on Friday at 7pm in Filmhuis and Sunday at 1:15 pm in Theater aan het Spui.

Joshua Oppenheimer will give an exclusive workshop to film professionals, students and all the others interested in making of this inventive documentary. Hurry up and try to grab your spot. It’s happening on Thursday, 4:15pm at Theater aan het Spui. Entrance fee 8,75e.

In The Act of Killing, movie makers are challenging former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass-killings. They go fifty years back in time to play on the movie screen the roles they had in the killings of more that one million alleged communists, ethnic Chinese intellectuals, in less than a year.

The main role belongs to Anwar, the then small time gangster who was selling movie theater tickets before being promoted to death squad leader after Sukarno was overthrown by Suharto following the coup d’état in 1965, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Anwar and his friends agreed to talk to the movie makers about everything from corruption to genocide in the movie tailored according to their favorite genres – gangster, western, musical.

While the script is unfolding, some of the unpunished perpetrators realize the killing were wrong. The others are just concerned about their image in public. For Anwar, the movie making was the path from arrogance to unease and regret as he realizes, for the first time in his life, the terrible consequences of his past deeds.