Nov. 24 Film and Discussion Examines 1965 Genocide in Indonesia

Genocide and 50 years of silence. Those are the forces that collide in Academy Award-nominated director Joshua Oppenheimer’s “

The Look of Silence

,” which has its Cincinnati premiere in TUC Cinema Tuesday, Nov. 24, from 4-7 p.m.

Oppenheimer, a MacArthur Genius grant recipient, will Skype in to offer an extended introduction to the free showing and answer questions from the audience as time allows about his groundbreaking work in Indonesia. What started as a trip to the archipelago nation for one film first transformed into “The Act of Killing,” which premiered at Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center and earned an Oscar nomination.

“The Look of Silence” continues his exploration of the 1965 genocide of ethnic Chinese and suspected communists in Indonesia, murders committed by individuals who still hold power in the nation. This film follows the journey of Adi, an optometrist who confronts his brother’s murderers while testing their eyesight. 

“It is a profoundly activistic film,” said Stephanie Sadre-Orafai, an assistant professor of Anthropology who co-directs the Critical Visions Certificate in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences. By breaking the decades of silence surrounding the state-sanctioned genocide, Oppenheimer’s film allows stories and counter-stories about the past to clash as perpetrators’ eyes are opened to the consequences of their violence.

Sadre-Orafai said that Oppenheimer’s films explore the Indonesian genocide through the actual people involved in it, from the perpetrators, who served as key narrators in “The Act of Killing,” to the victims, who take a central role in “The Look of Silence.”

“The making of these films has an impact on the actual people involved in the history,” she said. It’s a remarkably vivid opportunity to see the power of storytelling from different points of view, and the power of filmmaking in general.

UC’s Center for Film & Media Studies is hosting the film’s Cincinnati premiere as an opportunity for students and the general public to gain access to the insights from and engage in conversation with the acclaimed director.

“This film connects with so many of our interdisciplinary programs,” Sadre-Orafai said, noting that students interested in Film Studies, Critical Visions and the Digital Media Collaborative would all benefit from attending the free screening.