To commemorate International Human Rights Day on December 10th, the award-winning documentary “The Look of Silence” will be made available as a free download to the people of Indonesia in perpetuity. The free access to the film is orchestrated by director Joshua Oppenheimer, producer Signe Byrge Sørensen and Indonesian producer Anonymous, in collaboration with US distributors Drafthouse Films and Participant Media, integrated digital platform VHX and Danish film production company Final Cut for Real ApS. The Indonesian-language version of the film will also be available to stream for free on YouTube.
“The Look of Silence,” Oppenheimer’s companion piece to his Oscar®-nominated “The Act of Killing” and the film he initially set out to make nearly a decade ago, has won over 45 international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, the Gotham Award for Best Documentary of 2015, the IDA Award for Best Feature of 2015 and is a Best Feature Documentary entry for 2015 Oscars®. In “The Look of Silence,” a family discovers how their son was murdered in the 1965 Indonesian genocide, as well as the killers’ identities. The family’s youngest son, an optometrist named Adi, confronts these men who remain in power; while testing their eyesight, he asks them to accept responsibility for their actions, ending 50 years of silence.
By making the film available for free in Indonesia on VHX and YouTube, Oppenheimer hopes that “The Look of Silence” will be accessible to many more people, and will open an ever-wider space for discussion of the 1965-66 genocide, where previously there was silence. “This is the first film in history in which survivors confront perpetrators of atrocities while the perpetrators remain in power,” says Oppenheimer. “By giving the film to all Indonesians, we hope to support the national conversation so urgently needed to end this terrifying impunity, and make healing possible.”
The Oscar®-nominated “The Act of Killing” has also been available for free online since 2013, and has since been viewed by millions of Indonesians. Since then, Oppenheimer’s two films have helped break 50 years of silence on the genocide, and catalyzed a national conversation about the genocide’s terrible legacy of fear, corruption, and violence. Regarding both films, Oppenheimer says, “They are my love letter to Indonesia. As such, they belong to all Indonesians.”
Oppenheimer hopes that a wider digital distribution of “The Look of Silence” will inspire and energize a popular movement demanding the Indonesian government acknowledge and address the genocide (as well as subsequent atrocities), and take urgent steps to end impunity, as Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised to do when he was running for office in 2014.
The protagonist of “The Look of Silence,” Adi Rukun hopes that all Indonesians will download or stream the film and demand an official national acknowledgment of the atrocities. “I hope that if enough people watch the film, the government will be forced to acknowledge the truth, and we as a nation will acknowledge how we still live under the dark shadow of genocide, so healing can begin,” says Rukun.
In the United States, the two films prompted Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) to introduce a resolution urging Indonesia to acknowledge the genocide and initiate a process of truth, justice, and reconciliation, while also demanding that the United States take responsibility for its role in these massacres and declassify all documents detailing that role. Tens of thousands of Americans have signed a petition urging their senators to support this resolution.
The petition can be found here: www.thelookofsilence.com/participate
Starting on December 10th, “The Look of Silence” can be downloaded for free from Indonesia on www.thelookofsilence.com and its Indonesian sister site, www.filmsenyap.com.
“The Act of Killing” can also be downloaded for free from Indonesia from www.jagalfilm.com and www.actofkilling.com. The Indonesian language copy can be viewed on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=3tILiqotj7Y
