A documentary where mass murderers re-enact their crimes for the camera, by invitation.
In short: In the 2012 film The Act of Killing, director Joshua Oppenheimer challenged Indonesian death squad leaders to dramatize their roles in the 1965–66 massacres. The result is a surreal, harrowing exploration of impunity, where perpetrators boast about their actions, only to face the psychological weight of their own history.
Following the 1965 overthrow of President Sukarno by General Suharto, Indonesia saw the systematic killing of over a million alleged communists, intellectuals, and ethnic Chinese. The perpetrators, including paramilitary groups like the Pancasila Youth, were never held accountable. Instead, they remained in power, often operating as gangsters who extorted local businesses and influenced government policy.
Oppenheimer began his project in 2005 after interviewing survivors of the genocide. He discovered that the killers were not hiding their past but were instead openly boastful. By inviting figures like Anwar Congo—who claimed to have killed as many as 1,000 people—to re-enact their crimes using the aesthetics of their favorite film genres, the director created a unique, experimental documentary. These re-enactments were intended to expose the nature of impunity, showing how the regime celebrated the genocide to keep the public compliant and the survivors terrified.
The film’s production was a grueling process that took a significant toll on the mental health of both the crew and the subjects. As the re-enactments progressed, the line between performance and reality blurred. For Congo, the process eventually triggered a profound psychological crisis, leading to nightmares and moments of genuine remorse. While the film has received universal acclaim for its confrontational power, it has also sparked intense debate. Critics like Nick Fraser questioned the morality of giving killers a platform, while some historians argued it lacked sufficient historical context.
Despite being banned from official Indonesian censorship channels, the film became a catalyst for national conversation. Through a grassroots campaign, it was screened in hundreds of venues across Indonesia, from universities to mass graves. By documenting the killers’ own narratives, the film forces viewers to confront the uncomfortable reality that mass murderers are not always caricatures, but human beings who have successfully integrated their atrocities into their daily lives.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Act of Killing
- Also: Art Institute of Chicago — Before the Act · CC0 (data); description CC BY 4.0
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