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View all search resultsPapua documentary crackdown sparks fears over free speech, military overreach
Produced by WatchDoc alongside several environmental and legal advocacy groups, Pesta Babi explores deforestation and land conversion in Papua linked to the government’s expanding food estate and energy transition programs, which have been designated National Strategic Projects (PSN) under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.
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Members of Greenpeace Indonesia and Papuan youths stage a protest featuring theatrical performances against a controversial government-run sugarcane plantation plan in Merauke, Papua, outside the Office of the Coordinating Economy Minister in Jakarta on Dec. 18, 2025. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba )
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rackdowns by the Indonesian Military (TNI) on public screenings of a documentary exploring land conflicts and the TNI presence in Papua have intensified concerns over shrinking space for free expression and the military’s expanding role beyond defense under President Prabowo Subianto.
The disruptions targeted screenings of Pesta Babi (Pig Party), a documentary by investigative journalist Dandhy Laksono, who in 2019 directed Sexy Killers on Indonesia’s coal industry and the 2024 film Dirty Vote on the presidential election, both of which were met with controversy for their politically laden content.
Produced by WatchDoc alongside several environmental and legal advocacy groups, Pesta Babi explores deforestation and land conversion in Papua linked to the government’s expanding food estate and energy transition programs, which have been designated National Strategic Projects (PSN) under President Prabowo’s administration.
The documentary’s trailer depicts indigenous Papuan communities resisting the conversion of customary forests into industrial plantations, all the while tracing the corporate ownership networks behind plantation projects in southern Papua.
Since its limited release in April, screenings of the documentary have repeatedly faced intimidation, cancellations and forced shutdowns by local authorities in cities ranging from Yogyakarta to West Nusa Tenggara, with at least 21 incidents documented by a coalition of 10 civil society organizations.
Read also: Analysis: Food estate dream in South Papua grows bigger, more destructive
One of the most prominent disruptions occurred in Ternate, North Maluku, last Saturday, when soldiers led by Ternate Military District commander Lt. Col. Jani Setiadi halted a screening over what Jani described as the film’s sensitive and potentially provocative content.
