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SCREENING

The Act of Killing (Director’s Cut)

Saturday, Nov 26 at 4:00 pm

Location: Redstone Theater

Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer. 2012/2013, 159 mins. DCP. In Indonesian with English subtitles. In this landmark, deeply unsettling film, director Joshua Oppenheimer exposes a contemporary Indonesian society formed from a brutal, harrowing, and still unexamined civil war. In a country where death squad leaders are still celebrated as heroes, flaunting and benefiting from their murderousness with impunity, Oppenheimer (along with collaborators who remained anonymous because of safety concerns) challenged these men to reenact their real-life atrocities via staged musical, action, comedy, and noir scenes. Their reckoning, or lack thereof, plays like a provocative fever dream—albeit one punctured by the realization that many citizens are still terrorized by these aging wannabe thespians. “One of the paradoxes of filmmaking is that sometimes a film that feels too long can be too short,” Oppenheimer told the New York Times, explaining why he re-released the film in his preferred duration, featuring 40 more minutes of deeper characterization and improved pacing.

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.