There's no question in my mind what the top documentary of 2013 was, and it's Joshua Oppenheimer's unforgettable
The Act of Killing. The film is nominated for Best Documentary at this weekend's Academy Awards and will face some pretty stiff competition, but none of the other films go as in depth, using a unique approach to tackle issues of genocide, celebrity culture, and the overwhelming power of cinematic violence. Oppenheimer boldly approached Indonesian death squad members, responsible for the deaths of thousands in the 1960s, and asked them to reenact the killings in the form of their favorite American movies. It's powerful stuff, and as I said before the results will be tough to shake from memory.
I had a chance to speak with Oppenheimer about
The Act of Killing, and he talked about his long history with the subject matter, what it was like being amongst unrepetant murderers, and how he came up with the movie reenactment idea. You can listen to that interview below, and when you're done check out
The Act of Killing for yourself
here.
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