independence ballot. However, from the onset, it is obvious that many groups at a community level are attempting to subvert UN authority, taking advantage of the unarmed status of the Officers, and their corrupt ties and influence over both the Indonesian military and the East Timorese Police. Joining Waldman is Julie Fortin (Isabelle Blais), a Canadian RCMP police officer and Ismenio Soares (Alex Tilman), a Timorese university graduate assigned to translate for the UN team. It is obvious early on that not all is well in the troubled region, with massacres of entire families leaving no doubt in the mind of the UN officers that the Pro-Indonesian Militia are attempting to subvert the independence proceedings via strong-arm tactics over the population. The list of voters seems to be becoming a death-list, scaring more and more from registering themselves. Travelling from their compound in Nunura, the UN team frequently are confronted, although on 30 August 1999 the registration count confirms that almost 90% of the total population has successfully registered to vote. Later, in September, the vote goes ahead, with a 78% majority favouring an independent East Timor. Immediately the violence begins, with Indonesian Military and militia carrying out a scorched earth campaign, removing 'vital assets', the UN team is forced to evacuate. However the evacuation forces the UN to abandon many of its indigenous supporters, including Ismenio and his family who are known by the militia to be independence supporters. Part 2 The UN compound in Dili is no better off than that in Nunura, being bombarded with molotov cocktails and rocks through the night. Refugees from the surrounding city flee and make camps outside, in an attempt to defend themselves against murderous mobs who now control the streets. In one attack the refugees attempt to enter the compound but are stopped only by their own sheer weight in numbers, some climbing the barbed wire fences in order to escape the militia. Eventually the UN is forced to pull back to Darwin, leaving all behind to face the militia alone. Ismenio is found in a church in Nunura by militia, who after removing him from a crowd of locals, massacre all inside and burning the church, an event bearing much resemblance to the Liquiçá Church Massacre. Ismenio is taken to his former home, where he sees his father murdered and his sister raped by a contingent of military and militia