Overview
This collection analyzes Joshua Oppenheimer’s diptych The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence as a cinematic event that invites interrelated questions on historical memory, truth and reconciliation, and the limits of documentary filmmaking. On the Act of Looking affirms Oppenheimer’s use of fiction and manipulation as a technique to expose, contrary to the classic documentary form, not so much a reality behind the appearance of things, but how appearance as such can become a site of intervention or truth-telling. Contributors to this collection, including film scholars, art historians, historians, political scientists, philosophers, and Indonesian human rights activists, answer why Oppenheimer's documentary films not only have received near universal praise and admiration, but also why this praise is often qualified by surprise and fascination.
Full Product Details
Author: Dr Rex Butler (Monash University, Australia) , David Denny (University of Portland, USA)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN: 9781501347900
ISBN 10: 150134790
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 19 February 2026
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Availability: Manufactured on demand 
Table of Contents
Introduction Rex Butler (Monash University, Australia) and David Denny (Marylhurst University, USA) 1. Impunity - Reflections on the 1965 Massacre in Indonesia and its Legacy Benedict Anderson (Rochester University, USA) 2. Kidnapping all but One John Roosa (University of British Columbia, Canada) 3. Suharto's Regime Jeffrey Winters (Northwestern University, USA) 4. Abuses of Human Rights and Censorship in Contemporary Indonesia Prodita Sabarini (editor of The Conversation, Australia) 5. Sexual Politics in Oppenheimer's Films Tunggal Pawestri (writer for Jakarta Post, Indonesia) 6. Reflecting on The Act of Killing Martin Aleida (Journalist, Indonesia) 7. On The Act of Killing and the Modern Trend of Privatising Public Space Slavoj Žižek (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) 8. The Ethics of Making and Looking at The Act of Killing Robert Sinnerbrink (University of New South Wales, Australia) 9. Ethics in The Look of Silence Matthew Abbott (Federation University, Victoria, Australia) 10. Participatory Documentary Ecology Hilary Neroni (University of Vermont, USA) 11. Psychoanalytic Aspects of Witnessing Violence and Death Steven Miller (Buffalo University, USA) 12. Mise-en-abyme, like Hamlet Rex Butler (Monash University, Australia) 13. The New Documentary Form David Denny (Marylhurst University, USA) Interview - Joshua Oppenheimer Bibliography Index
Reviews
Act of Killing is one of the most important documentary films made in the 21st century, and as of now, there are no books devoted to it. The need is crying, and Butler and Denny have put together an exciting group of writers to respond to it. * Todd McGowan, Professor and Director of Film and Television Studies, University of Vermont, USA *
Author Information
Rex Butler is Professor of Art History in the Faculty of Art Design and Architecture at Monash University, Australia. David Denny is Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of Portland, USA. Previously, he was Associate Professor of Culture and Media Studies at Marylhurst University, USA.
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