The Act of Killing (Denmark/Norway/UK/Sweden/Finland: Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)

“In Southeast Asia, as in other places, dictators appoint rats and cockroaches as their executors, and they live to tell their tales. This experimental documentary is a horror show, a dagger, a guillotine, a confession box in an insane asylum. It’s also a very frightening lesson on history and how we remember it” — Kong Rithdee



The Act of Killing (Denmark/Norway/UK/Sweden/Finland: Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012: 115 mins)

"The Act of Killing." Critics Round Up (Archive of critical responses: No Date)

Bradshaw, Nick. "Build my gallows high: Joshua Oppenheimer on The Act of Killing." Sight and Sound (August 4, 2015)

Godmilow, Jill. "Killing the Documentary: An Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Takes Issue With The Act of Killing." IndieWire (March 5, 2014)

Herzog, Werner and Errol Morris. "The Importance of The Act of Killing." Badass Digest (July 12, 2013)

Herzog, Werner and Joshua Oppenheimer. "The Look of Silence | Panel Discussion." Berlinale 2015 (Posted on Youtube: February 9, 2015)

Hughes, Craig and John M. Miller. "Stopping the Killers From Killing: An Interview With Allan Nairn on Indonesia and Guatemala." Counterpunch (January 8, 2015)

Landesman, Ohad. "In Cold Blood: The Act of Killing." Reverse Shot #33 (2013)

Marlow, Jonathan. "The Art of Filmmaking: Joshua Oppenheimer and The Act of Killing." Keyframe (July 12, 2013)

McAlinden, Carrie. "True surrealism: Walter Benjamin and The Act of Killing." Sight and Sound (November 29, 2013)

Minsker, Evan. "DJ /rupture Releases Mixtape Inspired by the Film The Act of Killing." Pitchfork (April 28, 2014) ["Stage Boundary Songs is a "musical response" to the Oscar-nominated documentary"]

Nairn, Allan. "Journalist Allan Nairn Threatened for Exposing Indonesian Pres. Candidate’s Role in Mass Killings." Democracy Now (June 27, 2014)

Naureckas, Jim. "No, US Didn't 'Stand By' Indonesian Genocide - It Actively Participated." Monthly Review (October 20, 2017)

Oppenheimer, Joshua. "The Act of Killing: New Film Shows U.S.-Backed Indonesian Death Squad Leaders Re-enacting Massacres." Democracy Now (July 19, 2013)

Palmer, Landon. "6 Filmmaking Tips From Errol Morris." Film School Rejects (September 25, 2013)

Rayns, Tony. "The Act of Killing: Brave and unconventional Joshua Oppenheimer’s exposé of Indonesia’s bloodstained rulers may be; it’s also suspect – formally, historically, emotionally and conceptually." Sight and Sound (March 19, 2015)

Rodriguez, Rocky. "Can Theatre Change Your Mind?" Open Democracy (October 17, 2017) [A powerful piece on the possibilities of theater, and all of the arts, to help us recognize our confirmation biases and to transform our lives - highly recommended, please share with performance creatives and the supporters of their efforts.  What would it be like if we were able to work to truly make performances/art like this?:  "The highest form of art is the creation of community—worker-to-worker, person-to-person, friend to friend. Real learning—the only kind that counters bias—happens only when people are open with each-other in a trusted environment, where they can develop authentic relationships."]

Scott, Margaret. "The Indonesian Massacre: What Did the US Know?" The New York Review of Books (November 2, 2015)

Tan, Ian. "Rethinking Historical Responsibility Through Art: The Role of Film in Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing (2012)." Bright Lights Film Journal (March 18, 2016)

Vizcarrondo, Sara. "The Art of 'Killing': How Much Truth Comes from the Lie that Tells the Truth?" Documentary (Summer 2013)

Wartenberg, Thomas. "Providing evidence for a philosophical claim: The Act of Killing and the banality of evil." NECSUS (Autumn 2018)