Press Conference with Joshua Oppenheimer, director of The Act of Killing and winner of the Documentary category at the EE Britsh Academy Film Awards in 2014.
Q. Joshua, that was an extraordinary film, it is an extraordinary film, an extraordinary achievement and that was an extraordinary speech as well. Clearly that was something you have wanted to get off your chest for a long time.
A. Yes, we have spent the last 18 months travelling the world with this film and talking a lot about how the Indonesian government needs to acknowledge the crimes of the past. And in the last couple of weeks -- and the government really had tried to remain silent and that was, therefore, our most urgent -- our most urgent goal was to get them to speak and they have remained silent and silent and silent.
Finally the film was nominated for an Academy Award on 16 January and the government felt they needed to say something, and their response was inadequate. They said: this was indeed a crime against humanity and there needs to be reconciliation, but we will do it in our own time. And that was not a sign of goodwill, but it was a barometer of how much things have changed in Indonesia, because the film was -- because until that moment, the government has maintained that the genocide was something heroic and to be celebrated. So it was a 180-degree about-face.
And then we felt: okay, if the government has responded, it is really important, actually, that if we are going to demand more, we cannot do that without being hypocrites unless we start looking at our own role in the histories. And we had a screening on Capitol Hill in Washington this past week for senators and congressmen and their aides saying, look, we actually need to declassify all the documents relating to how we perpetrated this crime.
NEW SPEAKER: Hello, Joshua. Tim from BBC News. We spoke the other day.
Are you going to be contacting Anwar Congo and what will you say to him about this win?
A. I will tell him we have won, you know. I talked to Anwar about being nominated for the Oscar and I am afraid I did not tell him we were nominated for the BAFTA. Sorry. But I will call him tomorrow and tell him that we have won, and he will be moved, I think.
You know, when Anwar saw the film in 2012 he was very moved, he saw the longer director's cut of the film. He said -- he cried. He was silent for a long time. He finally said: this film shows what it is like to be me. Anwar and I have been in touch every month or so. I know he is wishing the film the best for the Academy Awards and he will be moved to hear that we have won a BAFTA.
Q. You know, there are a lot of anonymous names in your film's credits. I wonder how much this award belongs to them?
A. This is their award, as I just said in my speech. I dedicate this award to them. This film could never have been made without a team of 60 anonymous Indonesians who actually not only risked their safety to make this film, but changed their careers, many of them. They were university proffers, leaders of human rights organisations, film makers, who stopped everything to make this film with me. Some of them for years and years and years, knowing they could not take credit for their work unless there is real change. This film -- this award belongs to them.
Q. You are very emotional. What was it like standing up there holding your emotions in, just?
A. It is a little terrifying. 18 months ago I had such terrible stage fright when I first started this. This is really my first film, in a way, and it was so awful to be in front of an audience that I was trembling. I was trembling there. It was mostly -- now it is no longer stage fright, it is emotion.
I am just deeply moved that people all over the world are wanting to look into the dark mirror of this film and confront what they find there. It is really, really an honour. Thank you.
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EE British Academy Film Awards in 2014 - Winners Press Conference: Documentary
