Print

Mail

wiki links

Reel News

A new Indonesian movie about the 2002 Bali bombings explores the minds of the Islamic militants who carried out the attacks, refocusing attention on a sensitive topic in the world's most populous Muslim nation — the carnage carried out in the name of God.

Long Road to Heaven, by one of the country's most acclaimed filmmakers, Nia Dinata, examines the attacks from multiple points of view: the victims and their relatives, an American surfer who lost a loved one in the Sept. 11 attack on the US, an Australian journalist, the islanders and the bombers themselves, played by actors speaking imaginary dialogue.

How can you speak as if we love killing and death? Think of the thousands of children in Afghanistan! Look at what they have to endure,'' Amrozi, one of the attackers now on death row, is portrayed as saying when a co-conspirator expresses doubts about the operation on the resort island.

"This is a holy war against infidels! Not children.'' The Oct. 12, 2002, suicide attacks on two packed nightclubs killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and thrust the mostly moderate, secular nation onto the front lines of the war on terror.

The blasts were carried out by the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group, which has since been blamed for a series of other attacks on Western targets in Indonesia, including a second set of suicide bombings on Bali in 2005.

The film portrays Hambali, al-Qaeda's alleged point man in Southeast Asia and now in US custody, and several other terrorists deciding on the target of the attacks in a series of planning meetings in Thailand.

They argue among themselves and tensions surface over leadership issues and tactics.

Dinata's last film examined another rarely discussed issue in Indonesia, polygamy. Her previous movie was a satirical comedy exposing the empty lives of Indonesia's rich, notable also for its sensitive portrayal of a homosexual relationship.

"As a filmmaker I always welcome all the debates, all the threats, all the criticism, all the support,'' she said in an interview this week in the bustling office of her film company.

Religious friction lies at the heart of another recently released movie.

The makers of Parzania, a new Bollywood movie set to the backdrop of 2002 communal riots in India's western state of Gujarat, hope its release will help solve the real-life mystery at the heart of the film.

Where is a child that went missing during some of the most brutal religious riots in India's post-independence history?

The film is based on the true story of the disappearance of a couple's 13-year-old son, Azhar, and their five-year search for him after communal riots that left about 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, dead.

"One of the most important aims of the film is to help Dara and Rupa Mody find their son Azhar," director Rahul Dholakia, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and a close friend of the Mody family, said.

The riots erupted after 59 Hindus traveling on a train died in the town of Godhra after a fire blamed by many people on a Muslim mob sparked widespread rioting against Muslims.

A photograph of Azhar, who was 13 when he went missing, is displayed at the end of the film.

The young boy's family are Parsis, members of the Zoroastrian community in India, and were attacked by rioters even though they were not Muslims.

Much has been written about the riots, but it has mainly focused on the killings of Muslims. The film is the first to focus on the impact the violence had on India's small community of Parsis, a distinct religious group.

"I was holding my daughter Binaifer's fingers and she was holding Azhar's arm," said Azhar's 41-year-old mother, Rupa Mody.

"We were surrounded by fire in the kitchen and could not see anything. I rushed out with the kids and saw a mob. When I turned to pick up Azhar he was not there," she added.

A film repository at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base that for decades has stored and preserved original copies of some of the US' most famous movies is heading to a new home.

The Library of Congress Motion Picture Conservation Center, which has the original negatives of such classics as The Maltese Falcon and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, is moving to a new facility being built in Culpeper, Virginia, about 150km southwest of Washington, DC.

The move, which will begin in the spring and finish by September, is an effort to consolidate federal preservation and storage programs.

"It's going to be a really cool facility. It's going to be top-notch," Ken Weissman, head of the conservation center, said Wednesday. "It's very exciting.'' The conservation center at Wright-Patterson has 37 Celsius, humidity-controlled vaults housing about 125,000 reels of film containing 25,000 to 30,000 movie titles.
This story has been viewed 1163 times.