INTRODUCTION N SEPTEMBER 30TH, 1965, an unsuccessful Ocoup d’état triggered a series of events that have decided the course of Indonesia’s history to this very day. The leadership of President Sukarno, the man who led Indonesia to independence in NICK WILSON h 1949, was undermined, and the ascendancy of his successor, Suharto, was established. The orientation of this new nation, an amalgamation of peoples of dis- parate religions and languages living across a huge archipelago, was to change from fragile de- mocracy and neutral alignment (dependent upon balancing the GUIDE competing infl uences of Com- munism, Western colonialism, and a power-hungry army) to a military dictatorship aligned with the West. STUDY ISSUE 29 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION ABOVE: RICE FARMERS, CENTRAL JAVA 1 THE FAILED COUP TRIGGERED a or since, but now a full and frank ac- were part of a broader response to terror campaign, led by General Su- count of the slaughter of hundreds of events in South-East Asia. The Viet- harto. This culminated in the deposing thousands of people can be given. The nam War was escalating in 1965, and of Sukarno and the establishment of fi lm even explains some of the reasons the anti-Communist West decided Suharto’s New Order in 1966. At least for the West’s silence. that President Sukarno’s power de- fi ve hundred thousand people and pended upon Communist sup- perhaps as many as one million port. His removal from power and were killed during this period in replacement with an acceptable, purges organized by the military anti-Communist leader became a in conjunction with civilian militias. policy imperative. Many of these people were killed for their suspected involvement in the SYNOPSIS Communist PKI party. This would sound familiar to any secondary The narrator of Shadow Play pro- student who might have followed vides a concise description of these the story of East Timor and its events, times and places for viewers struggle to attain independence unfamiliar with Indonesian history. from Indonesia. Interviews with journalists who cov- Archival footage and interviews with ered the story reveal the secret war of signifi cant players construct a useful Shadow Play is a response to the re- propaganda and media manipulation chronology and a clear explanation of cent democratic impulse and freedoms waged by the Indonesian army and the major incidents. that have emerged within Indonesia actively aided by the governments of after more than three decades of the United States, Britain and Australia. To this end, the documentary summa- Suharto’s rule. Finally, Indonesians These offi cial policies of subterfuge rises Sukarno’s background, his rise can begin to confront their hidden to power and presidency. Indonesia’s history. The massacres received very colonial past, its demography and its little publicity in the West at the time external infl uences are spelt out, giving AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION ISSUE 29 2 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: REMAINS OF MURDER VICTIM, IBNOE SANTORO; BARBED WIRE SURROUNDS EX-DETENTION CENTRE, CENTRAL JAVA; COFFINS BURNT AFTER FAMILIES ARE PREVENTED FROM REBURYING BONES EXHUMED FROM MASS GRAVE; NEWLY ERECTED GRAVE STONE FOR IBNOE SANTORO AS HE IS FINALLY GIVEN THE DIGNITY OF A PROPER BURIAL; JOHN HUGHES CORRESPONDENT, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR AND AUTHOR OF PULLITZER PRIZE WINNING “INDONESIAN UPHEAV- AL”; PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER WRITER / POLITICAL PRISONER 1965-76; PROFESSOR ARIF BUDIANTO FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST which resulted in the murders of six Army generals, was ultimately ineffec- a background onto which the events of tive and ill-conceived. The aims of the Suharto’s propaganda fi lms, by graphi- September 30th are projected. Archival conspirators are not made clear. The cally portraying these untruths, perpe- footage of Sukarno in the U.S.A, China Communist allegiance of the conspira- trated a myth about the Communist PKI and Russia, for example, is used to tors is only hinted at. This is one area in that permeated the larger Indonesian show the infl uence that Cold War poli- the documentary that remains vague, society. Peasant militias organized by tics had on Sukarno as he attempted to perhaps intentionally so. the Army began killing and imprison- maintain his nation’s neutrality. ing anyone associated or implicated Extensive use is made of two propa- with the PKI. Other forms of domestic The narration then moves its focus to ganda fi lms shot for Suharto after he propaganda included controlling the an examination of the major political had taken power in 1966 (following his local media and creating a newspaper elements competing for power during own successful coup). In these fi lms, that disseminated grotesque stories of Sukarno’s leadership, namely the PKI Suharto seeks to ‘legitimize’ the mass Communist degeneracy. The effect of and the Army. The motivations and this misinformation was to encour- actions of each are shown in relation age murderous reprisals and to to the machinations of the super- engender a prejudice against the powers. The effect of this structure PKI that still endures. is to sharpen the important back- ground knowledge, allowing the The extent of the international me- uninitiated viewer to understand the dia’s complicity with the Western coup and why the consequences of nations’ foreign policy is laid bare. its failure were so dramatic. Journalists who fi led comprehensive stories detailing the killings and the Having set the scene, the horrible actions of Suharto’s regime were ei- events of the night of September ther ignored completely or edited 30th are related. Indonesian wit- so that their intended stories were nesses, foreign diplomats and rendered acceptable to govern- journalists give their accounts of ments concerned with supporting that night and what followed. The killings he had authorized after the Suharto’s anti-Communist stance. narration links these stories and fi lls September 30th coup, portraying the in details, giving the impression of conspirators as Communists who tor- Shadow Play tells of the major partici- an ambitious attempt by junior Army tured and mutilated the generals before pants in the story and what motivated offi cers to seize power, but the coup, killing them. In fact, this did not occur. them; it places Indonesia within an ISSUE 29 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION 3 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ALAN RENOUF SECRETARY, AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 1974-77; ARISTIDES KATTOPPO JOURNALIST & PUBLISHER; BRIGADIER GENERAL KEMAL IDRIS INDONESIAN SPECIAL FORCES; DR SUMIYARSI PO- LITICAL PRISONER, 1968-71; RICE FIELDS, CENTRAL JAVA international context; and the events Carmel Budiardjo had been working to England, where she lobbied to have leading up to and following the coup as a translator and researcher at the her Indonesian husband freed from are explained in an objective way. But Indonesian Department of Foreign Af- detention. Her campaign broadened the documentary also switches from fairs in 1965. Following the coup, she to include all types of human rights a broad historical background of the was dishonourably dismissed from abuses in Indonesia, including East coup to the stories of three individu- Timor. The documentary follows als swept up by events over which her journey back to the land she had they had no control. This change of been exiled from for thirty years. (Her focus from the macro historical pic- memoir is included in the resources ture to the personal and intimate is list at the end of this guide.) very effective in bringing the events and emotions of the period to life The third story follows Dr Sumiyarsi, for the viewer. who was working as a paediatrician in Jakarta when she was accused of Ibnoe Santoro’s story is related by writing false doctors’ certifi cates for his brother, Joyo. Ibnoe had studied PKI members. Her house was burnt economics in the U.S.A, returning to down and she fl ed with her husband. Indonesia to work. As an academic, he government service. In 1968, she was After two years on the run, she was was suspected of having Communist arrested and detained in military deten- caught and imprisoned without trial for sympathies. He was imprisoned, tor- tion centres for four years, and then eleven years. tured and fi nally executed by the Army exiled from Indonesia. She relocated in March of 1966. Joyo wants to re- Each character’s story is engaging, claim his brother’s remains and re-bury illuminating aspects of the broader him according to Muslim custom. historical events in interesting and AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION ISSUE 29 4 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: OLD HATREDS FLARE AFTER FAMILY EXHUMES BODY AND A MUSLIM MOB BLOCKADES THE HOUSE IN PROTEST; EDWARD MASTERS FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO INDONESIA; KEN WELLS HEAD OF STATION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, JAKARTA, 1965-68; CARMEL BUDIARDJO, AND ENGLISH WOMAN WHO WAS A POLITICAL PRISONER FROM 1968 TO 1971’; ABDURRAHMAN WAHID INDONESIAN PRESIDENT, 1999-2001; poignant ways. Their fi rst-hand ac- DISCUSSION TOPICS counts augment the narrator’s broad commentary, giving these enormous and the subject matter requires close EAST TIMOR historical events a personal dimension. attention. In particular, the disinterment of Ibnoe • Indonesia annexed (that is, invaded Santoro’s remains and the eloquent Shadow Play would be an appropriate and took control of) East Timor in words of his brother force the viewer to text for use in the following study 1975. Before this, East Timor was consider the consequences of Suhar- areas: Year 10 Studies of Society and a Portuguese colony that had only to’s murderous policy towards the PKI. Environment; upper secondary Politics just begun a process of transition This mass burial was one of thousands (looking at Australian Foreign Policy, towards independence (under an that took place at the time.