ANATOMY OF A MASSACRE
On November 12, 1991 an estimated 200 people were shot and killed by the Indonesian military during an independence march in occupied East Timor. Images of the massacre at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili became world news and were instrumental in the country gaining independence.
The bones of the dead are living in East Timor. The presence of the dead is real and political and emotional. And these bones in particular. Because November 12 was the day that East Timor youth, the kids in the street, took the struggle to the world
Max Stahl
Journalist and witness to the Santa Cruz massacre
Sixteen years after the massacre none of the bodies of the Santa Cruz victims have been recovered.
Now expert forensic teams from Argentina and Australia are about to exhume the mass graves where the victims are believed buried. As the world’s youngest nation still seeks justice for what happened in 1991 grieving relatives will finally have an opportunity to reclaim and bury the bodies of their loved ones.
The findings of the forensic team could solve an ongoing mystery about one of the most infamous mass murders of the 20th century. How many victims were killed, who were they and how did they die? Are reports true that some of the injured were taken from hospital and poisoned?
Anatomy of a Massacre will feature the contemporary forensic dig as a recurring story that threads the film together. Cutting edge forensic science will help reveal exactly what happened on that fateful day. The second thread is the re-telling of the massacre itself, told through the testimony of eye-witnesses. In intimate and graphic detail the film will re-construct the massacre and the events before and after. These two story arcs, the contemporary dig and the story of the massacre will be a compel- ling combination.
Seeking justice and gathering evidence for prosecution is crucial, but the chief motivation of the forensic anthropologists is to re- turn the bones to the families of the dead. The film will follow the emotion as families reclaim and bury their loved ones – some- times only after exhaustive DNA matching.
With graphic archival material and witness testimonies Anatomy of a Massacre will be a landmark film about one of the most notorious massacres in recent history. It is a unique story that combines modern forensic science with powerful emotion.
© 2007-09 Cordell Jigsaw Productions