Balibo (movie)

Balibo is an Australian movie directed by Robert Connolly and released in 2009. It starred Australian actor Anthony LaPaglia[1] who also was the film's producer. It based on the true story of 5 Australian news reporters working for Australian TV during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975. They were murdered by the Indonesian army in the small village of Balibo.

The Indonesian National Armed Forces did not want the movie shown in Indonesia, with a spokesman saying the movie could harm Indonesia's relations with East Timor and Australia.[2]

The movie was finally forbidden in Indonesia by the Film Censorship Agency. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the ban was to avoid a negative image of Indonesia. The Indonesian National Armed Forces supports the ban, with a spokesman saying the official version of the event is that the journalists were killed in a crossfire, and not murdered by Indonesian troops.[3][4][1] However, this did not stop people from seeing the movie, as there were some secret cinemas set up to show it.[5]

References

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Indonesia slams Balibo as propaganda". ABC News. 2009-12-02. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  2. ↑ "Indonesia bans Aussie film". ABC News. 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  3. ↑ "Australian Film 'Balibo' Banned by Indonesian Censors". The Jakarta Globe. 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  4. ↑ Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Putri Prameshwari (2 December 2009). "'Balibo' Ban Wins Rave Reviews From Indonesian Military". The Jakarta Globe. Archived from the original on 26 December 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  5. ↑ Temby, Quinton (December 2009). "Watching Balibo in Jakarta". Inside Indonesia. Retrieved 20 February 2022.