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Ronin Films

Timor-Leste

SCENES FROM AN OCCUPATION

Year: 1999

Classification: Exempt - Ronin Recommends: M

Runtime: 67 min

Produced In: Australia

Directed By: Carmela Baranowska

Produced By: Carmela Baranowska

Language: English

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Vimeo on demand

An intimate account of the last six months of Indonesia's occupation of East Timor.

"They killed a child. The adults came out of their houses and said, 'kill us, not innocent children'. They came out, praying and shouting. That's when they machine gunned the adults."

"We may all die," says an East Timorese woman, "but if one is left, he will tell the story."

Carmela Baranowska is the only filmmaker to have documented this period. She first travelled to East Timor in March 1999, working as a one person crew and stayed on until the UN evacuated its compound in September 1999.

SCENES FROM AN OCCUPATION is filmed from the point of view of the East Timorese who were directly affected by the events unfolding rapidly around them. The footage includes eyewitness accounts of the role the Indonesian military played in a systematic campaign of destruction, murder and terror.

This film is a testament to the East Timorese people's courage, humour, strength and determination in struggling for their independence.

Directed and photographed by Carmela Baranowska
Edited by Antoinette Ford, David Potts
Producer – Mary Gorman
Supervising Producer – Peter Charley
Executive Producer – Mike Carey

© 1999, Viagem Films

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