The panel discussion with Joshua Oppenheimer will focus on the psychological and philosophical, aesthetical and political dimensions of his approach to cinematography in The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014) that redefines the relationship between filmmaker and subject, film and audience. While exploring the notions of cinéma vérité and “documentary of the imagination”, we will look into the role of fiction, fantasy, reenactment and dramatisation in Oppenheimer’s filmmaking philosophy. The interrelationships between self-perception and performance, history and cinema, past and present underlies this reflection on the complex process of directing both films within the socio-political context of Indonesia over the course of more than a decade.

Born in 1974, USA, Oscar-nominated film director Joshua Oppenheimer is recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Grant” (2015-2019). His debut feature film, The Act of Killing (2012, 159 min and 117 min), was named Film of the Year in the 2013 by the Guardian and the Sight and Sound Film Poll, and won 72 international awards. His second film, The Look of Silence (2014, 99 min), premiered In Competition at the 71st Venice Film Festival, where it won five awards including the Grand Jury Prize, the international critics award (Fipresci Prize) and the European film critics award (Fedeora Prize). Since then, The Look of Silence has received the Danish Academy Award for Best Documentary and the prestigious Danish Arts Council Award. Oppenheimer is a partner at Final Cut for Real in Denmark, and Artistic Director of the Centre for Documentary and Experimental Film at the University of Westminster in London.

Die Veranstaltung findet in englischer Sprache und im Rahmen von zwei Filmvorführungen im Filmmuseum statt.