Feature Length Documentary

Anwar Congo and his friends have been dancing their way through musical numbers, twisting arms in film noir gangster scenes, and galloping across prairies as yodelling cowboys. Their foray into filmmaking is being celebrated in the media and debated on television, because Anwar Congo and his friends are mass murderers.

In 1965, the Indonesian government was overthrown and over one million people were murdered. The Victims were alleged communists, intellectuals and ethnic Chinese. In Northern Sumatra, the army used paramilitaries and gangsters to carry out the killings. These men have been in power ever since.

When we met the killers, they proudly told us stories about what they did. To make this film, we gave them the opportunity to create scenes about the killings in whatever ways they wished. This film follows that process and documents its consequences.

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“I have not seen a film as powerful, surreal, and frightening in at least a decade… unprecedented in the history of cinema.”

Werner Herzog

“The best, and most horrific, film of this year’s Toronto film festival…every frame is astonishing.”

The Guardian

Awards

Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature
BAFTA Award
51 Award wins and 41 nominations

Credits

Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
Co-directed by Christine Cynn, Anonymous
Produced by Signe Byrge Sorensen
Executive producers – Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, Andre Singer, Torstein Grude, Bjarte Morner Tveit, Joram ten Brink

A Final Cut For Real production in association with Spring Films.