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08 - 28/06/2015

photo: press releases
Galleryphoto: press releases
  • A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

    The Act of Killing (Indonesian: Jagal, meaning "Butcher") is a 2012 documentary film about the Indonesian killings of 1965–66 directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, and co-directed by Christine Cynn and an anonymous Indonesian. It is a Danish-British-Norwegian co-production, presented by Final Cut for Real in Denmark and produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen. The executive producers were Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, Joram ten Brink, and Andre Singer. It is a Docwest project of the University of Westminster. It won the 2013 European Film Award for Best Documentary, the Asia Pacific Screen Award, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards. The Act of Killing won best documentary at the 2014 BAFTA awards. In accepting the award, Oppenheimer asserted that the United States and the United Kingdom have "collective responsibility" for "participating in and ignoring" the crimes, which was omitted from the video BAFTA posted online. After a screening for US Congress members, Oppenheimer demanded that the US acknowledge its role in the killings. The Indonesian government has responded negatively to the movie. Its presidential spokesman on foreign affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, claimed that the movie is misleading with respect to its portrayal of Indonesia. A sequel to the film, The Look of Silence, was released in 2014.

    Werner Herzog, the film’s co-producer,
    found “The Act of Killing” the most surreal and
    terrifying documentary of the last decade. 

    Janusz Wróblewski

  • Joshua Oppenheimer

    Is an Oscar-nominated American film director based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Oppenheimer is a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award and a 1997 Marshall Scholar. From 2004 to 2012, he produced a series of films in Indonesia. His debut feature film, The Act of Killing (2012), premiered at the 2012 Telluride Film Festival. It went on to win many prizes world-wide, including the European Film Award for Best Documentary, a Panorama Audience Award, and a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury from the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. The film also received the Robert Award by the Film Academy of Denmark, a Bodil Award by Denmark's National Association of Film Critics, and the Aung San Suu Kyi Award at the Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival 2013.

    The Act of Killing won the BAFTA for Best Documentary, European Film Award for Best Documentary, the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Documentary, and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards.

  • Release Date: November 1, 2012 ( Indonesia )
    Directed by: Joshua Oppenheimer , Christine Cynn
    Starring: Jusuf Kalla , Yapto Soerjosoemarno , Anwar Congo , more
    Author of music: Karsten Fundal , Elin Øyen Vister
    Awards: Award of the British Academy of Film : Best Documentary , more
    Operators: Lars Skree , Carlos Arango de Montis