Acheh: Government Criticized Over Ban of Films
Below is an article published on the International Herald Tribune Website:
The government's Film Censorship Institute (LSF) blocked the planned screening next month of "The Black Road," "Tales of Crocodiles," "Passabe" and "Timor Loro Sae" at the 8th Jakarta International Film Festival.
Festival program manager Lalu Roisamri said the country's leaders apparently aren't ready to come to terms with the painful past in
"They are afraid if we show the films they will open old wounds, but we believe if we want to reconcile we cannot avoid the problem," he said. "By discussing and talking about the problems, we may avoid their reoccurrence."
The film festival, which began after the fall of former dictator Suharto in 1998, expects to attract 48,000 visitors this year to 230 films airing in the capital from Dec. 8.
"The docudrama is extremely one-sided. Nationalism is at stake," said institute head Titie Said, referring to
Titie said it would be bad timing to show the film about Aceh as planned, days before the province's first direct gubernatorial elections on Dec. 11. It could "ruin the conducive situation in Aceh which had been built with so much effort," she said.
All four films have aired elsewhere.
Three on
Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based media rights watchdog, criticized the Indonesian government and said the censorship board was undermining free expression.