The Act of Killing

Yapto Soerjosoemarno:
The Governor needs Pancasila Youth to maintain security. If he relies only on the police, it won't be secure. Gangsters can create both security and riots. We proved our potential when we exterminated the Communists. The people in power realized if they don't look after the thugs, it's dangerous!

Anwar Congo:
In my dreams they have threatening voices. They're like ghosts who hate me... They laugh, but frighteningly.

Anwar Congo:
What I regret... Honestly, I never expected it would look this awful. My friends kept telling me to act more sadistic, but then I saw the women and children. Imagine those children's future. They've been tortured. Now their houses will be burned down. What future do they have? They will curse us for the rest of their lives. This was so very, very, very...

Anwar Congo:
Imagine, in all this darkness, it's like we're living at the end of the world. We look around, there's only darkness. It's so very terrifying.

Safit Pardede:
We crushed their necks with wood. We hung them. We strangled them with wire. We cut off their heads. We ran them over with cars. We were allowed to do it. And, the proof is we murdered people and were never punished. The people we killed, there's nothing to be done about it. They have to accept it. Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better, but it works: I've never felt guilty, never been depressed, never had nightmares.

Anwar Congo:
Did the people I tortured feel the way I do here? I can feel what the people I tortured felt. Because here my dignity has been destroyed, and then fear come, right there and then. All the terror suddenly possessed my body. It surrounded me, and possessed me.

Joshua Oppenheimer:
Actually, the people you tortured felt far worse, because you knew it's only a film. They knew they were being killed.

Anwar Congo:
But I can feel it, Josh. Really, I feel it. Or have I sinned. I did this to so many people, Josh. Is it all coming back to me? I really hope it won't. I don't want it to, Josh.

Anwar Congo:
Why did I have to kill them? I had to kill... My conscience told me they had to be killed.

Anwar Congo:
It's a good family movie; plenty of humor; a great story; Wonderful scenery. It really show what's special about our country even though it's a film about death.

Himself - Vice President of Indonesia:
[addressing a large Pancasilla gathering] The spirit of Pancasilla Youth - which people accuse of being gangsters - Gangsters are people who work outside the system - not for the government. The word "gangster" comes from "free men". This nation needs "free men"! If everyone worked for the government - we'd be a nation of bureaucrats. We'd get nothing done. We need gangsters to get things done. Free, private men who get things done. Use your muscles! Muscles aren't for beating people up - though beating people up is sometimes needed. [Audience laughs] Once more, Pancasilla! Forever! Pancasilla! Freedom!