The Indonesian government has come in for criticism after banning four films on East Timor and Aceh that were to be screened at the 8th Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest).

The four films are The Black Road, Tales of Crocodiles, Passabe and Timor Lorosae.

Festival program manager Lalu Roisamri said the country’s leaders apparently aren’t ready to come to terms with the painful past in East Timor and Aceh, where tens of thousands died in violence in past decades.

“They are afraid if we show the films they will open old wounds, but we believe if we want to reconcile we cannot avoid the problem,” he said. “By discussing and talking about the problems, we may avoid their reoccurrence.”

JiFFest was launched after the fall of former dictator Suharto in 1998 and, this year, runs from 8th to 17th December.

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