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Videos - NTSC 1/2-inch VHS unless otherwise noted

V24 - Passabe A film by James Leong and Lynn Lee
$25  DVD home use only 111 minutes
 

 

Banned in Jakarta two years in a row. The remote village of Passabe lies on the
precarious border between East and West Timor. It is a tiny community
in a battle-scarred land that has seen much turmoil during 24 years
of Indonesian occupation. In the days following the 1999 referendum,
hundreds of militiamen embarked on an orgy of violence - attacking
three neighboring pro-independence villages, burning homes and looting
livestock. The attacks climaxed in September in the Passabe massacre
which left 74 men dead. The masterminds fled across the border into Indonesia.
Passabe remains haunted by a guilty past. It wants peace with its neighbors,
but without justice is reconciliation possible?

"This film is a profound, universal interrogation on the quest for justice and the
need for reconciliation after a war." ARTE

"...shot and directed to throw light in the darkest places. You haven't seen this on TV
and it reveals things you should know about." Tony Rayns

"Passabe is compelling viewing." Melbourne International Film Festival

see also

 

 

 

Best Film of the Festival and Best Documentary under 60 minutes, 2006 Mumbai International Film Festival

Screenrights Best made for TV Documentary and a Special Mention in the St Laurence New Zealand Medium Documentary at the DOCNZ Film Festival

 

Copies donated by the filmmaker. All proceeds from this sale go to ETAN. Orders of multiple copies or from institutions, please contact us  first.

 V23 - The Black Road: On the Front Line of Aceh's War 
$35 DVD 52 minutes
 A film by William Nessen

Banned in Jakarta, The Black Road, presents a haunting, often harrowing journey inside the war in Aceh and gives the viewer a rare snapshot of what it was like to live in there. Filmed over four years, the documentary begins - and ends - in the days after the devastating tsunami. A brief epilogue takes the viewer through the historic peace accord. But more than recounting historical events, The Black Road is about the people of Aceh - who, when set against the odds, emerge triumphant - and who have had to endure the bad times, struggling on while trying to maintain their dignity.

Jonathan Holmes, ABC Four Corners: "The Black Road, William Nessen's film about the conflict in Aceh, is an extraordinary achievement. It is one of the most courageous and unflinching journalistic efforts I can recall."

Edward Aspinall, Australian National University: By showing conflict from the perspective of ordinary villagers and insurgents, Nessen's film presents a perspective ofwar that is not only unique in reportage of Aceh, but which is rare in the media's coverage of any of the "small wars" which take so many lives around the globe. So often, we see only the view of governments and their troops. Here, the lens is reversed, and the effect is remarkable.

Damien Kingsbury, Associate Professor, International and Political Studies, Deakin University: The Black Road' is perhaps the most moving documentary I have seen, bringing the stark facts of Aceh's tragic situation to the viewer, but with a depth of feeling and inside understanding that can only come from long and profound involvement with the landscape and its people.
Democracy Now! V14 - From Annihilation to a New Nation: The Founding of East Timor - $50 VHS
6 hours of video coverage from Democracy Now! in East Timor.  
Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! report from East Timor for a week and a half before, during and after independence day.  A wide range of East Timorese, activists and officials speak about the birth of the new nation. The videos include historical footage and radio broadcasts, an extensive look at U.S. policy toward East Timor and how it changed, and perspectives on a range of issues facing the new nation. Interviews include journalist Allan Nairn, former President Bill Clinton, East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao, Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, activist Bella Gallhos, Australian journalist Hamish MacDonald, former State Dept. official Ed McWilliams and many more. 
V13 - Crashing the Stock Market! -  $20 VHS
Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! crash an exclusive party during the World Economic Forum, Feb. 2002. Goodman questions Nicholas Platt, former Ambassador to Indonesia, and president of the Asia Society about East Timor. Platt: “What axe are you grinding right here.” Goodman: I survived a massacre in East Timor in 1991. 25 min.

V16 - East Timor and U.S. Policy
Noam Chomsky provides a history and analysis of U.S. policy in the region, one still distorted by western economic and political interests in Indonesia. Winston Rondo of the Center for Internally Displaced People in West Timor (Indonesia) discusses his work with East Timorese refugees in militia-controlled camps, including the intimidation and violence against the refugees (especially women and children) face and the collusion of Indonesian military and local government officials. ETAN/Boston coordinator Cynthia Peters briefly discusses the power of grassroots organizing around these issues.  Z video productions. 120 min. $20

V15 - Emails from East Timor - $40
An independent documentary about the reality of life in this beautiful but devastated island country. Drawing on interviews with local people and the sometime controversial opinions of international volunteers, 'Emails' explores some of the critical issues faced by the East Timor today. Based on a series of emails written over four months as a volunteer builder, Dave Owens' narration links these accounts. These short stories combine to depict a resilient people as they start to build a nation from ground zero with 85% of all infrastructure destroyed. "Emails" is not a single issue documentary but is like a series of email notes that link together to form a picture of what is really going on and what serious issues face East Timor today. Pulling no punches, "Emails" gives us a first hand look at the devastation left by the departing Indonesian military. There are interviews with Timorese people on the destruction and the need for reconciliation, and interviews with international volunteers who have controversial views on how the relief effort is working. As Owens states "After 24 years they got the Indonesian military out. It's an extraordinary feat. Although this place has been stripped bare, it is also an incredible victory for the East Timorese." A Documentary by Peter Marra. Written & narrated by Dave Owens.  56 min./non-commercial use only. ©2001 handwoven productions. $40
To order PAL version contact: handwoven@xtra.co.nz.

Read review: GLW: Voices from East Timor's grassroots
 

 

V22 Rich Man, Poor Man...  $25

ABC Four Corners reporter Jonathan Holmes investigates the increasingly rancorous fight between Australia and East Timor - the richest and poorest nations in the region - over the multi-billion dollar oil and gas bonanza that lies beneath the waters dividing them.

The quarrel centres on who owns the seabed, and therefore the right to take royalties and taxes from the oil companies. For East Timor the argument is, in the words of President Xanana Gusmao, "a matter of life or death, of being a beggar forever, or of becoming self-sufficient." The East Timorese are casting themselves as victims of a rapacious neighbour that pays minimum respect to international law or notions of fairness. "East Timor cannot be deprived of its rights and territories because of a crime," says Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

The Australians are hanging tough. "We won’t be shamed into anything," Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer tells Four Corners. "I think they’re making a big mistake. I think a lot of the public rhetoric could be toned down, and toned down to great effect."

2004 45 min. NTSC 1/2-inch VHS

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