The Act of Killing

Anwar Congo and his friends have been dancing their way through musical numbers, twisting arms in film noir gangster scenes, and galloping across prairies as yodelling cowboys. Their foray into filmmaking is being celebrated in the media and debated on television, because Anwar Congo and his friends are mass murderers.

In 1965, the Indonesian government was overthrown and over one million people were murdered. The Victims were alleged communists, intellectuals and ethnic Chinese. In Northern Sumatra, the army used paramilitaries and gangsters to carry out the killings. These men have been in power ever since.

When we met the killers, they proudly told us stories about what they did. To make this film, we gave them the opportunity to create scenes about the killings in whatever ways they wished. This film follows that process and documents its consequences.