MOVIE REVIEW
Position Among the Stars (2011)
HBO
This Dutch-financed documentary about an Indonesian family in a favela in Jakarta spans approximately two years and is apparently the final film in a trilogy. Director Leonard Retel Helmrich seems to have chosen this family because it is a microcosm for many of the challenges of modern life in Indonesia. But the movie also brings up many more first-world questions.
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MOVIE REVIEW
Balibo (2009)
Balibo Film Pty. Ltd./Footprint Films
Inspired by journalist Jill Jolliffe’s book “Cover Up,” Robert Connolly’s controversial and highly political thriller “Balibo” attempts to uncover the truth behind the brutal deaths of six journalists in East Timor in 1975. It’s highly charged, emotive and powerful, but it’s also exceptionally brave filmmaking because it dares to challenge the long-held official line of events of not one, but two governments (that of Indonesia and Australia).