Today, we’re speaking with about his short film, A Silent Truth. This film depicts an atrocity committed against ethnic Chinese people in Indonesia in 1998. It is a difficult film about an episode of history that is all but unknown in the west. Thank you for being with us and for bringing these events to the attention of a wider audience.
UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): First, for those who don’t know, would you be able to provide a bit of historical background for this film?
Kenneth Willim (KW): So, the May 1998 riots started off as a peaceful demonstration by university students who were affected by the Asian financial crisis, but it escalated when a shot from the riot police killed one of the demonstrators which led to an eruption of violence and rioting. The rioting caused a lot of chaos and unfortunately, a lot of Chinese Indonesians fell prey to the violence and were traumatised by it.
(UM): The reasons for the violence are difficult to understand from what an outsider like me can learn from the internet. Could you tell us more specifically why ethnic Chinese people were targeted?
(KW): Honestly, I can’t pinpoint exactly why the ethnic Chinese people were targeted, that’s a mystery on its own, but I have a feeling that it came from way back in 1965, during the anti-communism coup in Indonesia, which is another history lesson on its own. But I think it’s more to do with this stigma as well that the Chinese are the wealthier bunch in Indonesia whereas aboriginal Indonesians are more succumbed to poverty, so when the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997, the only people to blame then might’ve been the wealthy Chinese. But, honestly, we can only speculate why Chinese Indonesians were targeted, but it was a known fact that we were the silent antagonist in this part of history, when actually we were the victims.
(UM): Could you tell us why you decided to make this film?
(KW): I made this film, firstly because it was my final year project in university, and I had this inclination for a very long time to tell this story. This is an issue that all Indonesians know about, but I’ve never seen any films that depict it, I think mainly because of the political implications it’s tied with, but it’s one of those stories that I’ve always wanted to write about. So, I was born in 1996, and in 1998, when the riots happened, my family relocated to Singapore to get away from the violence, and being only 2 years old at the time, I had no idea how important this story was. So, you could say growing up as an immigrant really played a role in making this film. And before I even thought of writing this script, I have to give a big shout-out to the artist, Rani Pramesti, and her graphic novel Chinese Whispers, for giving me so much inspiration to make this film.
(UM): Is this based on a true story, or is it a composite of events?
(KW): This film isn’t based on a true story, it’s based on different experiences and different stories I’ve heard over the course of my life, and I tried to compile it into a single short film. There’s a lot more of these stories that I want to delve into, however budget and constraints are a big problem, but hopefully one day I’ll get to create more of these stories.
(UM): This must have been a difficult film for the actors who played the victims. Could you tell us how you approached directing these scenes?
(KW): It definitely was difficult, but I was fortunate enough to have a cast who understood the sensitive nature of this film, and knew that this film is based on a very real part of our history, and they handled it with so much care. We discussed in length with the crew as well to make sure that the film wouldn’t be too graphic so that people could look back and not feel too disgusted by it. It was a whole team effort really, the entire cast and crew just did such a fantastic job that it made my directing very easy and just followed the script and shot-list.
(UM): You do a great job of depicting a man who has lived through unspeakable horrors and, decades later, does not want to speak about them. Do you think people in this man’s situation have a responsibility to speak? Or should their silence be respected?
(KW): To answer this question, I think it really depends on the person. I know some people who lived through the events and they talk about it but they don’t want to see anything that is related to that event, there are people I know who openly talk about it, and there are those who have lived through those horrors and do not want to relive those moments. I think responsibility is a big word, yes it should be a responsibility for us to remember that day, remember the events that transpired, but only if there is that courage and willingness to tell it. In the case of Edwin, the man in my film, I wrote his character in a way where he’s still struggling to overcome this traumatic event, but also wanting to tell his story, because very much like the older generation of Indonesians, they try to brush these stories and these events under the rug, and here comes Kevin, to try and give him a voice to talk about his own story. So there is that element of Kevin, which is a depiction of the younger generation, to try and open up this part of history, and gave Edwin the choice to either open up and help Kevin carry that responsibility or just keep silent.
(UM): In the west today, China is often depicted as a bad actor, as far as topics such as Taiwan, Huawei, etc. I thought your film did an amazing job of humanizing the potential bogey man of China. Would you care to comment?
(KW): I don’t have any comments on that, I tend to try to humanize people in my films, their thoughts and actions to benefit themselves in the best way possible, because at the end of the day we’re all humans, we bleed and no one should be judged based on the colour of their skin. The goal of my film wasn’t just to make Chinese people look like victims, it was more of showing that there are really bad people out there, and the things that they’ve done aren’t humane, everyone can fall prey to these very animalistic behaviours, but it’s our responsibility to bring to light a part of history that wants to be left in the shadows, cause only then we can move forward to a better future of healing and not repeating itself.
(UM): Do you have any future projects you’d like to tell us about?
(KW): I’m currently in the midst of writing my first feature film, which goes heavily into immigrant children of Indonesia who were forced to move back to Indonesia and the anxiety that they face, so keep a lookout for that on my Instagram, @k_willim, where I’ll be posting updates on it!