Jakarta Globe, Mar 04, 2015
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| The screening of 'The Look of Silence' was held in the headquarters of the district military command, attended by the commander, Lt. Col. Taufik Zega, as well as chiefs of subdistrict military units under his supervision (Photo courtesy of the Indonesian Military) |
Semarang.
Hundreds of members of the military command in Central Java’s capital,
Semarang, attended the screening of “Senyap” (“The Look of Silence”) last week
by award-winning American director Joshua Oppenheimer — a documentary movie on
Indonesia’s bloody past of anti-communist purge, which has often been blamed on
the Indonesian Military.
The
screening was held about the same time that “Look of Silence” was awarded a
Bodil Award from the Danish Film Critics Association for best documentary film.
The
screening was held in the headquarters of the district military command,
attended by the commander, Lt. Col. Taufik Zega, as well as chiefs of
subdistrict military units under his supervision.
“The
screening was aimed at clarifying the intention of the documentary production,
in order to avoid misunderstandings,” Central Java’s Diponegoro Military
Command said on its website, although it stopped short of explaining what
misunderstandings.
“The
screening was part of efforts to examine facts about what actually happened in
1965, because many people have conflicting opinions in regards to what happened
in 1965,” it added.
By watching
the movie, soldiers were expected to be able to explain to the public the
content of the movie and its connections with the Indonesian Military, when
confronted about the issue, the website added.
Indonesia’s
anti-communist purge in 1965-66, during which at least 500,000 people were
estimated to be killed, was led by the Indonesian Military, following a failed
coup attempt by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which has been banned
since then.
“Look of
Silence,” which first screened last year, is a follow-up to Oppenheimer’s
Oscar-nominated documentary “Jagal” (“The Act of Killing),” released two years
before.
While “The
Act of Killing” explores the anti-communist pogrom by getting the perpetrators
to re-enact their crimes, “Look of Silence” looks at the massacre through the
eyes of its victims.
In 1965,
Ramli was murdered as a teenager for his alleged support of the Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI). The film crew follows his brother, Adi Rukun, who was
born 1968, as he meets and confronts Ramli’s murderers and their families.
When “The
Act of Killing” was released in 2012, it was screened in secret in Indonesia,
for fear of government retaliation.
“The Look
of Silence,” though, premiered with a public viewing in Jakarta on Nov. 10 —
Heroes Day — last year.
Indonesia’s
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has reaffirmed its support for
the screening of the movie throughout Indonesia, stating that this is a part of
human rights education and national reconciliation in the nation.
Nevertheless,
the movie has met with rejection from some groups, such as the hard-line
Islamic People’s Forum, whose members stormed the campus of Gadjah Mada University
(UGM) in Yogyakarta in December last year while a student organization was
screening the movie
The
protesters mistakenly argued that the film promoted communism — a “known enemy
of Islam” — and its return to Indonesia.
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