Ep. 38 - The Act of Killing / The Look of Silence

Today’s Unwatchables takes our first dive into non-fiction with help from Jon Nix, documentary filmmaker and director of the new film Don’t Fall in Love with Yourself. Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentaries about the 1960’s Indonesian mass killings are a singularly bizarre and uncomfortable spectacle: The Act of Killing allows the killers themselves to gleefully re-enact their atrocities, while The Look of Silence sets up direct confrontations between the perpetrators and a victim’s brother. We discuss the ethical considerations of such a project, which film better illuminates its harrowing subject, and why genocidal killers are so into gaudy musical numbers.

You can find more from Jon at jonnixfilm.com

Unwatchables is hosted by Marc Dottavio and Seth Troyer, produced by Tony Scarpitti, featuring artwork by Micah Kraus.

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