[TimorLesteStudies] Screening of 'Passabe'

[Bu Wilson]

Peacebuilding and Cinema Series

'Passabe'
Thursday 15 March 2007, 12.30 - 3pm
Coombs Extension Lecture Theatre (Building 8, room 1.04), 
Please feel free to bring your lunch along

"I have murdered someone." A startling confession from an ordinary East
Timorese farmer is the core of this fascinating film about justice,
reconciliation and forgiveness. In the days following East Timor's vote for
independence from Indonesia in 1999, hundreds of pro-Indonesian militiamen
embarked on an orgy of violence, killing almost one thousand villagers. Four
years later, a UN-backed commission attempted to mend communities shattered
by violence by providing a forum for villagers to own up to crimes committed
during the chaos of 1999. The village of Passabe was the site of one of the
worst massacres of 1999 yet, at the Passabe hearings, tight-lipped former
militiamen stand and admit to such petty crimes as stealing or property
damage... until one farmer confesses to murder while serving with the
militia. With the truth voiced, the villages are faced with the uneasy
prospect of attempting reconciliation without justice. Both a portrait of
village life in nascent East Timor and an enquiry into the universal nature
of reconciliation, Passabe is compelling viewing."

-
http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/2006_Festival/film.php?film_id=4197


Directed by D James Leong and Lynn Lee. Released 2005. English subtitles.
110mins


Post-Screening Discussion:

Bu Wilson and John Braithwaite will lead a discussion on the situation in
East-Timor. John is currently involved in the Peacebuilding and Responsive
Governance focusing on Indonesia and the Pacific region. Bu's PhD thesis
explores the Development of the East Timorese Police Force 1999-2006. 

For more information on this documentary visit http://www.passabe.com 

For further information on these and other upcoming events please see the
centre website at

http://cigj.anu.edu.au/

Bu Wilson
Regulatory Institutions Network
Research School of Social Sciences
Building #8
Australian National University
CANBERRA ACT 0200
AUSTRALIA
T: 02 6125 3194 
F: 02 6125 1507
M: 0407 087 086 
E: Bu.Wilson at anu.edu.au