Bestle, Anton

Bøjgaard, Anton Castro

Iversen, Nikolaj Psihogiudakis

Jensen, Josephine Hougaard

Møller, Maria

Nielsen, Anton Ian

Reith-Hauberg, Søren

In this assignment we have examined the documentary The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer, which revolves around the killings of more than 1,000,000 alleged communists in Indonesia from 1965-66. The film is part of a new branch of hybrid documentary genres which combine elements from traditional documentary filmmaking with fictionalized elements such as directed dramatization and aesthetic visualization. Through Bill Nichols’ theories on documentary we have examined specific scenes in the film in an attempt to understand how the film can be categorized as a hybrid documentary. Through theories on Indonesian society from Nils Bubandt and theories on national identity from Benedict Anderson, we have analyzed the film in order to understand how the film portrays the Indonesian political system as based on inauthenticity and corruption. Furthermore we have analyzed and discussed the film’s relationship between fact and fiction as well as director Joshua Oppenheimer’s intentions of making the film. Our method of analysis is based on Norman Fairclough’s writings on critical discourse analysis in order to help establish how the Indonesian society is identified through discourse. The analysis leads up to a discussion on how The Act of Killing offers unique opportunities in exposing the killings by telling the story through the eyes of the killers themselves. The film has also raised a debate about the factual credibility of the hybrid genre.In this assignment we have examined the documentary The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer, which revolves around the killings of more than 1,000,000 alleged communists in Indonesia from 1965-66. The film is part of a new branch of hybrid documentary genres which combine elements from traditional documentary filmmaking with fictionalized elements such as directed dramatization and aesthetic visualization. Through Bill Nichols’ theories on documentary we have examined specific scenes in the film in an attempt to understand how the film can be categorized as a hybrid documentary. Through theories on Indonesian society from Nils Bubandt and theories on national identity from Benedict Anderson, we have analyzed the film in order to understand how the film portrays the Indonesian political system as based on inauthenticity and corruption. Furthermore we have analyzed and discussed the film’s relationship between fact and fiction as well as director Joshua Oppenheimer’s intentions of making the film. Our method of analysis is based on Norman Fairclough’s writings on critical discourse analysis in order to help establish how the Indonesian society is identified through discourse. The analysis leads up to a discussion on how The Act of Killing offers unique opportunities in exposing the killings by telling the story through the eyes of the killers themselves. The film has also raised a debate about the factual credibility of the hybrid genre

Den Journalistiske Dokumentar II: The Act of Killing

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Roskilde Universitet