'' The Act of Killing '' ( , meaning " Butcher " ) is a 2012 documentary film about individuals who participated in the Indonesian mass killings of 1965 – 66 . The film is directed by Joshua Oppenheimer and co-directed by Christine Cynn and an anonymous Indonesian . It is a Danish-British-Norwegian co-production , presented by Final Cut for Real in Denmark and produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen . The executive producers were Werner Herzog , Errol Morris , Joram ten Brink , and Andre Singer . It is a Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media ( CREAM ) project of the University of Westminster . '' The Act of Killing '' won the 2013 European Film Award for Best Documentary , the Asia Pacific Screen Award , and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards . It also won best documentary at the 67th BAFTA awards . In accepting the award , Oppenheimer asserted that the United States and the United Kingdom have " collective responsibility " for " participating in and ignoring " the crimes , which was omitted from the video BAFTA posted online . After a screening for US Congress members , Oppenheimer demanded that the US acknowledge its role in the killings
86th Academy Awards
86th Academy Awards
The Act of Killing