Indonesian journalists to screen controversial Australian film
Updated
Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists is tonight screening the controversial film Balibo in Jakarta. Earlier this week both the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents' Club and the Jakarta Film Festival decided not to show the film, after receiving legal advice. The Festival's organisers said they had been informed that the Indonesian censorship board had banned the film, which describes the killing of five Western journalists by members of the Indonesian military in East Timor in 1975. Indonesian authorities reject the film's account of events, calling its content "offensive".
Presenter: Girish Sawlani
Speakers: Eric Sasono, executive board, Jakarta International Film Festival; Esky Suyanto, Alliance of Independent Journalists; Professor Arief Budiman, University of Melbourne and former member of Indonesia's censorship board
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SAWLANI: The Indonesian government and the nation's powerful military have long denied allegations that five foreign journalists, two of whom were Australian, were killed by troops during the country's invasion of East Timor in 1975. That version of events is depicted in the Australian feature film Balibo, which was scheduled to be shown by the Jakarta Foreign Press Club earlier this week. That was before Indonesia's Film Censorship Board told the Club it was banning the movie. The Press Club decided against the screening... as did the organisers of Jakarta's International Film Festival... as executive board member, Eric Sasono explains.
SASONO: If we don't get past the censorship review and censorship doesn't post us any letter on that, it means that it is criminal to screen the film. So we think we'll abide by the law. It's better for us to stay caution. We don't agree with the decision but we cannot do anything.
SAWLANI: But the film will be shown in Indonesia, with one organisation defying the ban.
SUYANTO: We don't have a reason why the censorship body should ban this movie.
SAWLANI: Ezky Suyanto is from the Alliance of Independent Journalists.
SUYANTO: As far as I know, that when we decided to screen this movie, that we were only thinking about that the public has the right to get the information, freedom of expression. And then we don't prepare how the censorship body responds, or military or police, because this is a democratic country. And this is a technological era, so even if they ban the movie, and then the people can get the movie easily.
SAWLANI: Are authorities aware you are running the movie today?
SUYANTO: Yeah, yeah they do.
SAWALNI And what did they say?
SUYANTO: Nothing.
SAWLANI: Ms Suyanto says the Film Censorship Board may have announced a ban....but says the Alliance has yet to receive an official letter to that effect.
SUYANTO: I already met the Jakarta Festival Film Committee and then they said that they haven't gotten the letter yet from the censorship body. There is no announcement officially from them that they banned the movie, but the military already saying thanks to the censorship body that they banned the movie, so it's a really confusing situation now.
SAWLANI: Ms Suyanto says it's important that Indonesians get the chance to see Balibo, despite a statement from the Foreign Ministry which says the film's screening could renew tensions with Australia.
SUYANTO: This movie also tells about the history. Indonesia has a dark side of history like other countries. We don't need to cover it, we don't need to hide it. We should get the lessons learnt from what happened in the past...to go to move forward in the future. So this is ridiculous. If the Indonesian authorities thinking that this movie will disintegrate this nation, it's ridiculous.
SAWLANI: It's not the first time that Indonesia has banned a film deemed to be politically or socially sensitive. In 2006, four films were dropped from an international film festival, including Promised Paradise, a documentary about the 2002 Bali bombings.
Professor Arief Budiman is from the University of Melbourne and served on the Indonesian censorship board in the late 1960s. He's against the banning of the movie, and accuses the Indonesian military of seeking to influence freedom of expression.
BUDIMAN: The military is not satisfied. And I think the military is playing a role even on the back screen. So the military is even not playing a political role, I think it has a very strong lobby. And as you know. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a military man also and maybe he may also have that sensitivity. And secondly people still have that sensitivity also that East Timor has to belong to Indonesia.
