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ictims of the 1965 coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) have praised a documentary on the alleged killings that took place in the coup’s aftermath, but added that the film did not disclose all the historical facts.

The Act of Killing, directed by American filmmaker Joshua Lincoln Oppenheimer, centers on Anwar Congo, a respected member of the Pemuda Pancasila youth organization, which allegedly killed hundreds of PKI members in Medan, North Sumatra.

Anwar and his friends used to be small-time gangsters until they were recruited as death squad leaders in the wake of the coup.

A number of victims of the 1965 purge, both students and activists, had their chance to watch the film, screened for the first time in Medan at the North Sumatra Advocacy and Legal Aid (Bakumsu) office on Tuesday.

Astaman Hasibuan, a victim, said he appreciated the film. “I enjoyed the movie,” said Astaman, who is the secretary of the North Sumatra chapter of the Families of Missing Persons Association (IKOHI).

However, he added that there were still many historical facts that had not been revealed in the film.

Astaman said one such fact was the massive number of victims killed in the tragedy after they were taken from military confinement.

“This is a weakness of the film, but we can understand this because none of the victims of the 1965 coup were involved in the making of the film,” Astaman told The Jakarta Post after the movie screening.

He criticized the 165-minute film for not depicting the conflict between Pemuda Pancasila and victims of the 1965 coup, and added that many soldiers were also involved.

Another victim, Chairuman, said that what was depicted in the film was generally true but it still had many flaws.

Film screening organizer Juniarti Aritonang said the screening had received approval from the director, but added that she had to lobby Oppenheimer for months in order to secure it.

She said the film screening was carried out in conjunction with International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. The film will also be screened on some campuses in Medan.

In Jakarta, students of Bina Nusantara International University (Binus) were shocked after learning of the country’s grisly history, which they had never learnt about in school textbooks, after they watched the documentary in Senayan on Wednesday.

“I have learned about the PKI, but I never knew how sadistic the killers were,” said student Gabby Naya, a student, said.

Another Binus student, Budianwar Wahyu Pratama, 21, deemed the movie “a revelation” that changed his perception of some of the country’s respected figures.

“Our history has been distorted. Those who I perceived as heroes were, in fact, crueler than those who were considered enemies,” he said.

It is very unlikely that public cinemas will dare to screen the film, given the sensitivity of the subject in Indonesia. (yps)