THE ACT OF KILLING Trailer

The first trailer for Joshua Oppenheimer‘s The Act of Killing, produced by Werner Herzog and Errol Morris has now landed today. The most upsetting and politically charged documentary that was featured at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, The Act of Killing focuses on executioners from 1965-66 Indonesia who were allowed to murder practically anyone they wanted, and are still treated as heroes today. The documentary explores the murder of up to 3 million suspected Communists in 1965 Indonesia through the accounts of the killers, who tell their stories and also recreate them on film. The Act of Killing focuses first and foremost on Anwar Congo and his zany, but equally murderous friend Herman Koto. The shocking and thought-provoking film hit theaters July 19th, 2013. Check out the compelling U.S. trailer for the movie that opens with Voltaire's quote, ‘all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.' [jwplayer mediaid=”152516″] Here's the official synopsis:

In this chilling and inventive documentary, executive produced by Errol Morris (The Fog of War) and Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man), the filmmakers examine a country where death squad leaders are celebrated as heroes, challenging them to reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of the American movies they love. The hallucinatory result is a cinematic fever dream, an unsettling journey deep into the imaginations of mass murderers and the shockingly banal regime of corruption and impunity they inhabit. Shaking audiences at the 2012 Toronto and Telluride Film Festivals, The Act of Killing is an unprecedented film and, according to the Los Angeles Times, “could well change how you view the documentary form.”