How to confront a war criminal

"You've participated in one of the biggest killings in human history. I want to know what it means to you."
Joshua Oppenheimer's films:
thelookofsilence.com/
theactofkilling.com/
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[@dropj3]

_"War crimes are defined by the winners. I'm a winner, so I can make my own definition."_ Let that sink in slowly and look at the atrocities that are taking place in today's world.

[@nexu6517]

N. E "Stories will only glorify the hunter, until the lion learns how to write."

[@porphyrogennitos7758]

N. E "great liars are also great magicians"

[@asebeleketo1466]

N. E "Death of a person is a tragedy, death of million is just statistic"

[@heck9088]

N. E "If I fart, it will smell."

[@lockesnode1477]

Iraq War.

[@RizalAshari]

As Indonesian, I really appreciate what Josh was did. we're blinded by the dictatorship (New Order Era) for more than 30 years. even now Indonesia is a democratic nation, the gov system still ruled by the corrupted people from the past and they have no idea about this issue and still think that communist is a threat and they are a hero who saved the nation from commie. several screening events of Josh' films was forced to disband by several groups including radical-religious organization, fundamentalist group and other bigots on the large scale. those criminals still living without any trial for what they have done, their commander who is the second president of Indonesia was dead and his family still living with the wealthy they've got from their father dictatorship regime. at first, I predicted Joshua's films will encourage the supreme court to make a trial for those criminals but the power of the new order regime still stood in the government and parliament by the remaining new order accomplices and most of Indonesian still think that New Order regime is a meritorious regime and the 1962-1965 tragedy is conducted by the Communist. we need more material like this to educate the rest of Indonesia whose still have that New Order regime thought.

[@kartikajaya886]

about it, yes communist is stil a threat to our ideology and by the way you wrote it its like you dont care about it.

[@alwib4167]

setuju banget, perlu edukasi yg lebih biar gak dibutakan sama sejarah boongan

[@madenuradi4732]

Maybe communism still considered a threat for Indonesian. However there are also another morally blind lunatics eagerly resort to violence and hatred as long it is justified by ideology or religious motives. The latter, I believe is a not so "laten"(hidden) threats for Indonesia's progress which most people here turn a blind eye.

[@SuperJosteen]

Rizal Ashari Our country was always being used as a pawn since the archipelago was discovered by the westerners, they first used it as trade routes and then moved on into actually "colonizing" the land which is just a better way of saying enslaving the natives when they saw that spices grew well in this tropical archipelago. During the world wars the powers that holds our would be country changed hands frequently that ended up creating civil wars left and right because these multiple foreign rulers implanted different believes and views on the natives that ended up fragmenting them. G30S PKI was just the most recent bloodiest conflict that was used by the world leaders to put someone they wanted to be in power in this newly "Independent and free country." Its just too ironic and traggic.

[@adityaakbar2575]

Nur Achmad Kartikajaya are you drunk? communism isnt a threat, and communist fought alongside other revolutionaries againts the dutch. the real threat that exist right now is right-wing party and islam extremist.

[@spartan11payne]

how to confront a war criminal? just be polite and use terms like "sir," and "mr. president."

[@reign3864]

LEIF TORBJÖRN yknow if you think about it, every president is a war criminal...

[@Calvin_Coolage]

Aziez Scver The first 5 or so weren't, mainlt because the US hadn't really hit the world stage yet.

[@onsholo]

He killed french diplomats and slaughtered a fuckton of natives, the only thing that stops him from being called a war criminal is the fact that war had no rules at the time.

[@BeastinlosersHD]

gabriel bello War had rules, and he fought for the British at the time. Being a general doesn't make a war criminal.

[@onsholo]

Beastinlosers you are a idiot, he killed a fuckton of civilians

[@Bepler]

Vox. Just, excellent.

[@Vox]

Bepler Thanks Andrew!

[@cragnog]

And insane props to Oppenheimer for his work too.

[@antilinkpartyleader3239]

Lol 2k likes and 3 comments

[@emmagiffard4598]

No

[@MsTen999]

@@onety4438 Then why are you here?

[@Nihilist_Porcupine]

I saw a screening of the act of killing last year. Such an incredible doc; it's completely terrifying and insightful and raw. I had no idea Oppenheimer made another film already... Jesus, what a brave guy. It takes balls to get footage like that. I'm going to need to mentally prepare myself before I see the next film. I love you for bringing this mainstream, Vox! Such important films.

[@harukiichito3081]

Im from east timor. Thank you for shining a light on this forgotten massacacre. My families death will not be in vain.

[@abuafreed6308]

Haruki Ichito i’m sorry for your losses

[@dauf69]

As an Indonesian, I'm very sorry for your loss. Indonesians need to be taught that the 1975 invasion of East Timor is an act of aggression and an act of colonialism.

[@kaptenhiu5623]

I'm sorry as an Indonesian, I acknowledged that annexation of Timor Timur is just an act of neo-colonialism. Hope you can join ASEAN and we can be brothers again.

[@barry.b.bensonjr]

I, a proud indonesian citizen. Want to say sorry and ask your deepest heart for forgiveness. May East Timor well and make Sure Youre country stand freely without being controlled by Australia

[@annoyingnick26]

I apologized for what the Indonesian government, presumably my ancestors did towards the Timor-Leste

[@kennedysumarno2766]

I'm Indonesian and thank you so much Vox for bringing this topic

[@wawan8759]

Kennedy Sumarno saya malaysia. korang tak rasa malu ke kalau orang ni tunjukkan keburukan orang kita kepada dunia?

[@marmareido6774]

ridzwan alif saya indonesia, saya malu, sedih. tapi harus dibicarakan supaya mulai ada perubahan. mungkin dengan ini internasional bisa mendesak pengadilan untuk penjahat perang. dan toh ini menyangkut amerika juga

[@andivatar]

indonesia hadir juga,,

[@professionaldisappointment1654]

@@wawan8759 malu,sedih,tapi mereka kena hadapi fakta,bukan sembunyi

[@reyvaldosoetiman2389]

@@wawan8759 sorry for late reply Shame on this ? No we must accept who we are , and teach people the truth so in the later the next generation doesnt do the same Its just like teach people not using nuke in war You know what happen if you use nuke (hiroshima and nagasaki as example)

[@SM-qe4wd]

THIS is why I subscribed to Vox from the beginning/infancy of the site and channel. THIS video is the type of journalism that helps bring other works of amazing film and journalism to light for the rest of the world. Excellent job Vox!

[@Boxsteam]

Sm ramgator sometimes though they mess up with biased ideas such as the sanctuary cities video

[@lauri1021]

Sm ramgator you dont even know what journalism means then

[@translatedfatwas4218]

Lauri whatever its good content

[@KalitAcosta]

Right on

[@khanch.6807]

@@Boxsteam Everybody makes mistake. It just depends on if the good they do can overwhelmingly outshine the bad.

[@Majoofi]

now can you do the same with our war criminals?

[@therealrobertfrank2924]

Majoofi what war criminals

[@Stiggy771]

Donald Trump

[@drlisp123]

obama

[@louisf2654]

Bush II

[@sizzrin1]

I think you mean Hillary Clinton dude, Trump has never been in control of the US military until recently.

[@TheWeeCrafter]

Fun Fact: The Indonesian Communist Party was, at the time of the right-wing coup, the biggest Communist Party in a non-communist state with over a million active members.

[@DerausgewahlteNutzer]

Fun Fact: They killed most of them. Democracy at its best.

[@abcdefg-dy6pi]

DerausgewahlteNutzer what

[@feynmans467]

+abcdefg It's clearly sarcasm.

[@fluffymassacre2918]

DerausgewahlteNutzer But did they vote to kill all of them?

[@DerausgewahlteNutzer]

My point was that a democratic party, which organized itself and had widespread support of the people with about 3 million members, was destroyed in the most brutal way by a US-supported coup. Still, the US claims to be a state supporting democracy.

[@spingbay7039]

love how vox focus on making videos about the most difficult topics that otherwise doesn't wouldn't come to the surface beacause the fact that people generally want more dramatised and easy to understand politics

[@user-bd4oc9jt9e]

Would be nice if at least half of those weren't bias

[@salmadys]

"Confronting War criminals while they still hold power" Make your next movie about the CIA!

[@FOLIPE]

Here in Brazil we also had a military coup in the 60s, supported by the US government. More than 2000 people were killed and tortured during the 21 years long dictatorship that followed. I don't think we have overcome that yet, but we've gone far... I hope Indonesia can follow Latin America in making exposing its past, and remembering it so it's never repeated, but also making peace with it, since it cannot be changed.

[@Carols989]

and we still have idiots that want it back

[@GreenGretel]

_I hope Indonesia can follow Latin America in making exposing its past, and remembering it so it's never repeated_ ...Looks like the majority of Brazilians haven't quite learned that lesson either. The continued reverberations and ramifications of these U.S.-backed coups & the subversion of democracy really demonstrate how immoral & damaging these interventions have been; these dictatorships warp a nation's political culture, causing indelible harm, both physical (in terms of torture, extrajudicial killings, etc.) and psychological (the normalization of these crimes against humanity, the impunity of the perpetrators, the climate of fear, the constant accommodation to and inculcation of rightwing boot-licking power worship and love of hierarchy/domination/authority, and so on).

[@STM1066]

The coup was a godsend

[@justinwortham]

As an American that grew up in Indonesia it is still hard to reconcile stories like this with the people I came to love and respect. I hold the people of Indonesia in the highest regard and have high hopes for their future.

[@oukahershel2931]

Side note: none of these are meticulously explained in Indonesian school history books. Both because lack of information is a control and also due to the fact that you can get into big trouble if you expose these. And if you do have the bravery, prepare to be attacked by the groups.

[@linus4108]

since I entered school I always told that communism and PKI (Indonesia Communist Party) is bad and the history book always told us about the coup and the killing of few army general but the history book never told us about the aftermath , all the massacre of innocent civilians and talking about this events are considered taboos and people still scared of communism, they always think that PKI will rise again , but time changes both people and government want to fix this kind propaganda created by President Soeharto and in newer version of history book for students (released by government) already talk about the massacre and the hypothesis that the coup is big conspiracy , we changed, not fast enough, but still slowly we change , and every 30 Sept we always remembering all the victim of the coup the general and every year we still debating about who's wrong who's right or who's the real victim, but now we try to move on and the older generation that really experienced this events always told us " history is made by the winner" and they always said let theirs generation suffered from this event and for younger generation don't waste your time and energy debating about this problem. sorry for bad English

[@lukeothedukeo]

+

[@eldo5023]

Linus Nara don't worry, your english are good tho

[@roronoapedro]

That's brutal. I wish you the best of luck in any of your endevours. This is the kind of stuff that reminds us what art really is about. No matter what happens, I hope you can look at your work and be proud of it later.

[@FlyingOverTr0ut]

Great interview. People need to see these movies.

[@romanw8632]

im going to find it and see it, both of them

[@walruses3836]

This is truly great to watch, this is why I love for vox, because of the way they present their videos and as well the explanation of certain thing such as in this video

[@ardydyandra4788]

I read this title as "How to Comfort a War Criminal".

[@coalsauce4457]

Oppenheimer...? *1945 flashbacks intensifies*

[@BenOldenburgDK]

I enjoy the way in which you narrate. Well done my friend

[@ryanw1359]

I'm very interested in watching these now. Thanks for spreading awareness on this VOX

[@annelieseocallaghan801]

You have now got this down to a fine art. This is brilliant.

[@Saitur123]

Really happy you covered these docs, truly impactful pieces of work

[@alexmarra4392]

Vox remains an inspiration to me. I have to do journalism like this some day. Thank you for providing clarity in the search for purpose in my life.

[@dan.h3335]

These 2 documentaries have stuck with me and I will never forget them.

[@PedroHassan]

Vox keeps bumping the bar even higher with every video, congrats

[@SebaQuiros]

I'm from Argentina and I can't help to feel identified with the Indonesian history. It gives me hope that these kind of topics are being shown, but I can't help to feel pesimistic about the future of our world. That doesn't mean we should give up and stop trying to imagine a better way to live.

[@neuemilch8318]

two of the best movies i ever watched thank you joshua and your whole team.

[@SeaOfBread]

Stellar video. Well put together and thought out.

[@shabbirnaqvi1344]

How in the name of good does this video only have 40,000 views it deserves so much more

[@ameremortal]

VOX. You guys are inspiring! We need your great work, now more than ever.

[@brianadampratama]

Simply amazing and ironic. I know it's a grim past for my country, but these perspectives he brought up to the surface are necessary in order to gain a fuller picture of the history that I blatantly remember trying to explore in study years.

[@GuillaumeDeBeaujeu]

great job, thanks Vox!!

[@user-eq7zq6so3j]

Welp, that didn’t tell me how to talk to my Dad.

[@subswithnovideos-uq9qi]

Wait WHAT?

[@joshsmall5488]

This keeps being in my feed. I'm glad however

[@ryansachio8906]

Back in the Cold War, it was dangerous to voice out your opinion. I'm glad that reforms were made after the fall of Suharto, but I'm sad by the fact there are protesters who were still missing and a lot of people died during the 98' riots..

[@idktbh9877]

Vox: How to comfort a war criminal me at 2:30 am: well well well how do I?

[@krq113]

Great work!

[@julianmcahonk6360]

The best documentary channel I've ever watched

[@FiroxFlames]

That moment when you realize that you're not subscribed to Vox.. and youtube still shows me every video they make and I still watch every one of them... well I guess I know what to do^^

[@camiloariel]

This is so powerful... Here in my country we don't have justice for torture, mass killing or disappearing people. What we do have is a citizen movement called "Funa", where the man and women that killed, tortured or helped in those atrocious acts are found, exposed and publicly condemned. It is so important for the victims and their families to have some sort of closure. Sadly, the lack of formal justice with the acts of our past is letting the police torture again in the present with some of the same practices that they used during our dictatorship. We're an OCDE country, so no one bats an eye at it. Vox, this is an amazing job. Thanks to Joshua for his films. They bring hope to our people, that maybe someday our voices might be heard.

[@YourSideHoe]

I'm Indonesian, and watched his film. The people, well thinks, this is some kind of communist revival.

[@krayfishj3910]

+Galih Jananuraga Education, or the lack of thereof is the bane of humanity

[@pungvsbobawhoami1150]

What the government did on G30SPKI was just short of Genocide , with out even thinking Soeharto himself was undermining Pancasila when he ordered the murder of Innocent civilians labeled as Communist scape goats !

[@bebekdragon7604]

lord dude, do you even read history? G30S PKI is not a freaking genocide it is communist party's coup, if you meant the massacre of the communist supporter it happened in 1966.

[@tradcath6305]

@@bebekdragon7604 dude i know it's been 1 year, but i can't ignore your comment, what history did you read? History written by US affiliated New Order Regime? Wow so smart... Maybe you should learn more about history...

[@bebekdragon7604]

@@tradcath6305 g30s PKI was a coup not genocide. But government also did a massacre after the G30S, but it was a diferrent even. Saya tadi ngomong kejadian g30s PKI itu sendiri itu kudeta bukan genosida, pembantaian pemerintahan Soeharto terhadap simpatisan PKI itu kejadian lain bukan G30S sendiri

[@NikhilSingh-mk9kc]

Felt so disturbed watching this, like somethings are unimaginably outrageous in the world. Great content though Vox. Cheers!

[@jacintovski]

You've exceeded yourselves on this one. Well done! A frightening period of History, no doubt

[@Migo1290]

Shepherd basically made sense with “History is written by the Victor”

[@icantsayit9901]

So - CIA gets off scott free and these guys have to live with everyone knowing and having looked into their victims eyes...

[@kapitankapital6580]

Such an amazing and intelligent way of going about it. Couldn't happen in other circumstances.

[@pizzacounselor6870]

Glad i subscribed to vox

[@novalkurnia2102]

I'm Indonesian and my mind has just been opened😦😦

[@bomba7197]

Good.

[@cloroxbleach9222]

Noval Kurnia So you don't know about the dark history of Indonesia that Jokowi doesn't even try that hard to censor?

[@swlk9996]

This happens when you live in a country where education is not regarded as something important

[@alypixar4690]

Great video

[@wartank9941]

I am Indonesian but never heard of this in our history, thank you Vox for showing this

[@mrcolz9373]

Thanks Recommended Section, very cool.

[@corey240zed]

good work we need this information to become available so the young western society.

[@Robin-jk6wz]

Thanks Vox! Now, no one will be able to confront me about it.

[@yin6287]

Good one Vox 🇲🇨

[@eruno_]

Same happened in South Korea after Korean war.

[@bmw3-er]

Thank you Vox

[@fruitpunch758]

How to confront a war criminal a: go to the white house and meet the president

[@davidwidjaja5574]

As an Indonesian, thank you.

[@TempRawr]

Umm, one this is just an amazing piece to be recorded and hope Americans, and western world, watches your film. Also where do we get to see this film, I feel I'm not being a proper citizen of this world of ours if I see and reflect on this film

[@RonHelton]

TempRawr I just finished watching this on Netflix. They provided a link in the description. The page shows the different formats available and if you scroll down the page it will show you where it can be streamed online. www.actofkilling.com/

[@TempRawr]

Ron Helton thank you very much :D

[@RonHelton]

TempRawr You are welcome.

[@bomba7197]

Me and some my friend already know the truth for about 4 years, we created an organization (well not really, it was only like a group of friend) to tell the truth to everyone in our school at least.. We wanted to tell it softly without taking to much attention or everyone will think we are communist. The ratio is like 1:150 but it is growing. It is hard first the history book, tell everyone the propaganda by saying "Indonesian Communist Party was having a coup in 1965 to create an Indonesian Soviets, and wants to oust the first president and kill several general" which we know the book reverse the history, it was the military who were having coup and the communist killing the general in order to stop the coup, and what I hate the most our teacher is talking about the propaganda or make us watch in the big screen which make our job harder. I want the future Indonesia to be a corruption free, Pancasila socialist democratic nation someday in the future when history telling the truth not lying to the whole country. As a nationalist I want to tell to all other Indonesian nationalist to open their eyes stop pretending to be blind read the fact and be careful from the lies. To be honest I really like the video, Vox, you've made me cry with Adi's story with the right story and the perfect song choices. You've made it wonderful and sad to watch. Thank you Vox.

[@iggyandhercat1856]

Thank you for spreading the truth and repairing the broken history. It's very important to learn the truth to learn

[@likkakek8418]

It's strange, that this video came across my recommendation for last few days

[@Urekakwkwueh]

This video just came to my recommendation. I've watched the act of killing when i was in high school (SMA).

[@holyravioli5795]

Whatever happened to this excellent quality content vox?

[@nataliasl2920]

Wow this is incredible, I'm definitely watching the films, and I wish this would've been done in Chile.

[@0Scoops]

Tank you Vox. This isn't the first US backed coup.

[@Carols989]

and won't be the last

[@libzbond]

The 1958 coup in Iran to overthrow the prime minister and restore the Shah. The 2011 civil war in Libya Name more C.I.A led coups, and correct me.

[@jupitired777]

I feel so bad for that man whose older brother was killed. He's probably not going to get remorse from any of the war criminals :(

[@holysword876]

Don't blame the poor innocent Americans guys. All they were doing is spreading freedom. On a more serious note I like how many Americans are afraid of terrorism when they themselves have caused half of them.

[@Acewift]

holysword876 yeah because the citizens caused the terrorists

[@holysword876]

Acewift Technically, sure. Isnt the government run by the people, for the people? Got anything to say to that...

[@heccshoot]

Regular people don't get a say in laws. We don't get a say in wether or not we go to war. Sometimes, we don't even know the plans of the people we voted into office. We elect representatives because they say they will vote in our stead, but most of the time they are pressured into voting a certain way through by their party or corporate lobbying. In theory, our democracy serves the people's interests, but in practice it serves the interests of those who already have power.

[@mattscagl9319]

Sigh, that's the sad truth our Democratic Republic.

[@mirzaardhiansyah5944]

well if you are the most powerful person in the hood, what will you do?

[@astridnovi]

I can't believe I've just found this video. As an Indonesian, I give Oppenheimer the greatest thanks.

[@sergio7248]

Guys... I don't know how much resources you have or how I can support you, but, I think you deserve to be at the forefront of global news, TELL US HOW WE THE AUDIENCE CAN HELP YOU EXPAND. I just wish you didn't identify so much as Americans, every time more people around the world speaks English and the English news everywhere keep being about their own country (most of the time anyway) or talking about their country, in this case America, as "us" or "we". Thank you for the great work! World needs you

[@MrCheesysmell]

This is fantastic guys

[@ThePolterGhast]

I read the title as “How to Commit a War Crime”

[@Jakentosh]

and you clicked it...

[@ThePolterGhast]

Ananda Hanif H yep...

[@Jakentosh]

man of culture i see

[@ThePolterGhast]

American culture to be more specific

[@shidderofkyev613]

"Hi dad"

[@IshijimaKairo]

War crime? Oh you mean advanced warfare,

[@agungde13]

Joshua, last May i saw your Film Act of Killing in Aachen, after i saw it i realize how brutal our history was and also the cold war proxy war. Thanks to you, we as the younger generation can now learn our history from different perspectives and i hope such a tragedy will never ever happen again in Indonesia. Many success for your next Film!

[@ColeLPeltier]

I like the way Oppenheimer conveys his emphasis while speaking using his hands and gestures. Getting into the subject matter, it's fascinating how an economic ideology became a symbol of a massive geopolitical balancing game (which often culminated in tragedies on all sides). At this point, spreading the truth about these events might be the highest "justice" achievable while the people involved are still in power.

[@jakesigalmix]

After watching this video, I immediately went and watched the doc on Amazon. What a masterpiece of documentary work. It brings up such conflicting feelings, watching these men be proud of killing these people, with only short flashes of regret. I was surprised at the end how Anwar was physically sick when talking about what he did, you can see the regret building up, but his pride gets in the way of progressing to taking responsibility and reconciliation.

[@infinitewatersss5959]

jesus, young brother... you are so brave to make this film

[@rafidhaque8791]

Vox, this is why I love you Vox...

[@gamermomment2050]

Thanks vox i can confront my serbian girlfriends dad

[@racapinang]

I can't believed I not found this on my country (zone). Very sad times

[@paprikaman1124]

"one of the biggest killings in history" I hate people sometimes 500 k civilians is one of the biggest killings in history?

[@yabolehkan9768]

Dude its still debate some say 2 million some say maybe just 1 million

[@badhonebrahim7707]

1:04 hey what camera r those?? looks really nice

[@manusa6]

My great-grandpa rest his soul, witnessed a man getting beaten to death and a man getting shot in the head in the middle of daylight, he fought for the Indonesian national revolution and never thought that the country he would fight for independence would turn up like this. I’m glad that Indonesia is now better than ever.

[@mrhubert1462]

Then how do I confront my self?

[@IM_THE_CHANGLLER]

war crime are ok if you're the winner

[@sabriilmak6001]

i need to see more., i thought u will interview joshua a little bit longer.

[@aurgho_]

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

[@09shadowjet]

Thanks for telling me from another perspective.

[@TheIndogamer]

0:30 "War crimes" are defined by winners reminds me of Cpt. Price stating that history is written by the victors.

[@toastedfish1105]

Man it's crazy how I'm living just above this madness ( Malaysia)

[@tsvetangeorgiev]

"The war crimes are defined by the winners" - Does anyone really doubt that?!?!?

[@CheekiBreeki-mq2my]

1999 - NATO bombed tens of thousands of CIVILLIAN targets but nobody thinks of NATO as war criminals so its correct

[@widciyamck8677]

Instrution so clear: the rats are now trying to confront my war crimes against them.

[@ChannelFar]

I'm Indonesian. Joshua, thank you for this.

[@owowowiemybones]

0:43 Rich Chigga

[@gerunkwon2598]

lmao. he even has the underbite

[@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis4346]

hes back at it

[@abelsumanas]

Damn son

[@davidkovach5866]

Thanks to all those at VOX.

[@narensingh2685]

wow....10/10 would watch again

[@hildaelson4203]

It happened all over South East Asia at the time. Netflix also does a very interesting dramatisation of the Tokyo Trials. The Nuremberg documentary by the BBC (I think) is also great.

[@ianh1504]

well, its good that the subtitles are a whole 8 microns tall