Listen Live
Donate
 on air
Schedule

KCRW

Read & Explore

  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Culture
  • Events

Listen

  • Live Radio
  • Music
  • Podcasts
  • Full Schedule

Information

  • About
  • Careers
  • Help / FAQ
  • Newsletters
  • Contact

Support

  • Become a Member
  • Become a VIP
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop
  • Member Perks

Become a Member

Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

DonateGive Monthly

Copyright 2025 KCRW. All rights reserved.

Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
Cookie Policy
|FCC Public Files

Back to The Business

The Business

Making 'The Act of Killing'

Filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer spent over eight years making his Oscar nominated documentary The Act of Killing . In one of the most surreal films to hit theaters in years, Indonesian death squad leaders who carried out hundreds of murders during the "Communist" purge in the 1960's re-enact their crimes as if they're acting in a Hollywood movie.

  • rss
  • Share
By Kim Masters • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

Filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer spent over eight years making his Oscar nominated documentary The Act of Killing. In one of the most surreal films to hit theaters in years, Indonesian death squad leaders who carried out hundreds of murders during the "Communist" purge in the 1960's re-enact their crimes as if they're acting in a Hollywood movie. Oppenheimer talks with Kim Masters about how these elaborately staged re-enactments emerged naturally from interviews with the killers who bragged about how they killed. Although Oppenheimer's film didn't get a conventional theatrical release in Indonesia, he did mount a grassroots release that's resulted in thousands of screenings and has prompted the media in that country to break a long-held silence on this tragic history.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Kim Masters

    partner/writer at Puck News, host of KCRW's “The Business.”

  • KCRW placeholder

    John Horn

    Los Angeles Times

  • KCRW placeholder

    Darby Maloney

    Producer

  • KCRW placeholder

    Joshua Oppenheimer

    director

    CultureEntertainmentArts
Back to The Business