This collection analyzes Joshua Oppenheimer's diptych The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence as a cinematic event that invites interrelated questions on historical memory, truth and reconciliation, and the limits of documentary filmmaking.Featuring a new interview with Joshua Oppenheimer himself, On the Act of Looking affirms Oppenheimer's use of fiction and manipulation as a technique to expose, contrary to the classic documentary form, not so much a reality behind the appearance of things, but how appearance as such can become a site of intervention or truth-telling. Contributors to this collection, including film scholars, art historians, historians, political scientists, philosophers, and Indonesian human rights activists, answer why Oppenheimer's documentary films not only have received near universal praise and admiration, but also why this praise is often qualified by surprise and fascination.

Includes a new interview with Joshua Oppenheimer

IntroductionRex Butler (Monash University, Australia) and David Denny (Marylhurst University, USA)1. Impunity - Reflections on the 1965 Massacre in Indonesia and its LegacyBenedict Anderson (Rochester University, USA)2. Kidnapping all but OneJohn Roosa (University of British Columbia, Canada)3. Suharto's RegimeJeffrey Winters (Northwestern University, USA)4. Abuses of Human Rights and Censorship in Contemporary IndonesiaProdita Sabarini (editor of The Conversation, Australia)5. Sexual Politics in Oppenheimer's FilmsTunggal Pawestri (writer for Jakarta Post, Indonesia)6. Reflecting on The Act of KillingMartin Aleida (Journalist, Indonesia)7. On The Act of Killing and the Modern Trend of Privatising Public SpaceSlavoj Zizek (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)8. The Ethics of Making and Looking at The Act of KillingRobert Sinnerbrink (University of New South Wales, Australia)9. Ethics in The Look of SilenceMatthew Abbott (Federation University, Victoria, Australia)10. Participatory Documentary EcologyHilary Neroni (University of Vermont, USA)11. Psychoanalytic Aspects of Witnessing Violence and DeathSteven Miller (Buffalo University, USA)12. Mise-en-abyme, like HamletRex Butler (Monash University, Australia)13. The New Documentary FormDavid Denny (Marylhurst University, USA)Interview - Joshua OppenheimerBibliographyIndex