More than 50 Sacramento State students gathered to watch “40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy,” on Tuesday evening and learned about the mass killings of Indonesia during 1965 with a forum with the film’s director.

The film was presented by history professor Michael Vann, who first watched the film during the summer at a conference. One of Vann’s students was able to put him in contact with Robert Lemelson, the film’s director, who agreed to attend the screening.

The documentary explored the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-1966, which involved the kidnapping, torture and execution of suspected or actual members of the Indonesian Communist Party.

Though the killings tapered off, many Indonesians lived under military rule for more than 30 years.

Lemelson spent several years befriending and establishing trust with the people in the documentary, which can be difficult because of the trauma suffered as well as the danger of speaking out that still exists.

“There’s still tremendous discrimination and fear about talking about (these events),” Lemelson said.

Subjects described years spent in prison camps, eating food that often had sand or rocks in it and urinating in the same shack where they slept. Others witnessed family members who were brutally beaten; two brothers saw their father hacked to death with a sword outside their home.

The children of suspected communists even now are sent away to orphanages to be safer because of the discrimination experienced in their village.

Senior history major Katie Healey called the film eye-opening.

“I’d never heard of the events that took place,” Healey said. “I feel like that I couldn’t imagine what they went through.”

Healey said screenings like last night’s are important because they increase the public’s awareness of current atrocities that might be overlooked in regular history courses.

“We still have survivors that are still suffering,” Healey said. “You should always try to be more aware.”

Vann said that he screened the film to help people with less background on modern history become more involved and interested in world issues.

“I think there is a lot of recent history that Americans don’t have a greater grasp of,” Vann said. “Understanding events like this is essential to being global citizens.”

Lemelson said that many of the people involved found the filming process to be healing, but also vital to continuing on with their lives.

“Silence of events like this is enormously disruptive,” Lemelson said.

Julia Baum can be reached at [email protected].