Seton Hill University Blog, "Film Screening and Discussion"

Film Screening and Discussion of "40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy" Examines Effects of Hidden Genocide by Jennifer McGuiggan

The second day of the Ethel LeFrak Holocaust Education Conference 2009 concluded with a screening and panel discussion of the documentary film “Forty Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy.” The film examines one of the largest unknown mass killings of the 20th century and the long-term impact it has had on the Indonesian people.

 This feature-length film was directed by Dr. Robert Lemelson, a psychological anthropologist, and edited by two-time Academy Award winner Pietro Scalia. In the years 1965 and 1966, Indonesia's General Suharto led a targeted campaign to systematically kill an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 suspected Communists. “Forty Years of Silence” weaves together historical footage of the events with modern day testimonies of four individuals and their families from Central Java and Bali, two regions heavily affected by the purge.

A panel discussion followed the film screening. On hand to provide commentary and answer audience questions were director Lemelson; Dr. Carol Rittner, R.S.M., The Marsha R. Grossman Distinguished Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey; Michael Cary, Ph.D., professor of history and political science at Seton Hill University; and James Paharik, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology and advisor for the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Program at Seton Hill University.

Under Suharto's authoritarian rule, any discussion, recognition, or memorializing of the mass killings that differed from the official state narrative was quickly suppressed. An intensive propaganda campaign obscured the truth of what happened. Although Suharto was finally forced to step down in 1998 due to an economic crisis, silence about the killings remains today.  Lemelson noted that there is nothing to commemorate the killings in Indonesia, not even markers on the mass graves.

One of the key points that emerged from the film and panel discussion focused on the possibility of reconciliation. Lemelson asserted that reconciliation, if it comes at all, will come through truth, by breaking through the lies of the propaganda so everyone can agree upon a common narrative of the events. As the name of the film implies, many people in Indonesia and around the world are still unaware about what actually took place in the mid-1960s. Lemelson said he has screened the film to activists and a few small groups in Indonesia and has plans to show it more widely in the coming year.

When asked by an audience member what should be done about genocides and mass killing going unrecognized today, Lemelson asserted that the perpetrators need to know that they can be brought to justice through the international community.