20 Documentary Movies You Must See Before You Die

5. The Act Of Killing (2012)/The Look Of Silence (2015)

Technically The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence are two separate films, but they are so important to one another - and so heavily interconnected - that it seems appropriate to class them together. Both directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, the documentaries focus on the Indonesian genocide that took place between 1965-1966 - a period of history that, considering how many people died, has received a shockingly small amount of coverage.

The Act of Killing is by far the stranger and perhaps more harrowing picture of the two - not least because Oppenheimer tracks down and interviews those responsible for the killings who now boast and walk as free men today, and asks them to reconstruct their crimes for the camera. Which they do, of course... and happily. But then something starts to happen to charismatic killer Anwar Congo, as he slowly begins to comes to terms with his past.

The Look of Silence is a more conventional work, but by no means any less sobering. The "conceit" of Oppenheimer's follow-up sees a middle-aged Indonesian man, whose brother was brutally murdered during the genocide, as he goes about interviewing the men responsible. Viewed together, these films provide a terrifying and indispensable portrait of a horrific time in history that asks those who took part to finally face up to what they did.