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Indonesian Documentary Breaks the Silence on the Plight of Indigenous Papuans

The recent film “Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Times” has unsurprisingly elicited a strong negative reaction from the Indonesian government.

A Papuan archer appears in the Indonesian film “Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time.”

For the Indigenous communities of Indonesian Papua, Awon Atatbon is no routine ceremonial gathering. The ritual, which involves dancing, singing, and other communal performances, is only held every decade or so, and symbolizes these communities’ resilience in protecting their ancestral lands. The central focus of Awon Atatbon is the pesta babi (pig feast), the traditional cooking of specially-hunted pigs, which are then shared among members of the community and any visitors who may be in attendance. These feasts, and the sufferings and injustices that prompted such ceremonies among Indigenous Papuans, form the symbolic core of Dandhy Laksono and Cypri Dale’s acclaimed (and controversial) documentary, “Pig Feast: Colonialism in our time,” which was released in late May.

The 95-minute film illustrates how the Indonesian state, through its National Strategic Project (PSN), has furthered its historical oppression of Indigenous Papuans through massive state-led development projects that prioritized food and energy security for the majority at the expense of local Papuan communities and ecosystems. Through interviews with Indigenous leaders and villagers, as well as everyday footage of massive destruction and loss, Laksono and Dale highlight how the PSN has created what they have described as the world’s largest ongoing deforestation project, protected by Jakarta’s authoritarian military arm. The film also sheds light on the historical impunity enjoyed by the Indonesian state in its quest to pursue profit over the well-being of ethnic minorities in West Papua.

The film situates the PSN in a long history of exploitation by the Indonesian state. West Papua, which consists of the western half of New Guinea and its surrounding islands, came under Indonesian control in 1963, but it took another six uneasy years and a controversial U.N.-administered referendum for the region to be formally incorporated into Indonesia.

Since then, Indigenous Papuans have been routinely subjected to large-scale human rights violations by the Indonesian military and police forces.

The 1969 referendum, for example, was only achieved after many arrests, killings, bombings of Papuan villages, forced disappearances, and intimidation. A similar pattern has persisted since then, with the intensity of Indonesian military operations peaking in 1998, which saw massacres of Indigenous villagers, systematic starvation operations, and widespread rape and public torture across the region. Today, while direct military action has slowed down, police and paramilitary forces continue to abuse Indigenous communities, especially targeting people with activist backgrounds.

Simultaneously, a strategy of “Indonesianization” has taken place in the region, motivated by a racist worldview that Malay Indonesians are better able to make use of Papua’s rich resources than the Melanesian Indigenous Papuans. This strategy has included both the assimilation of Indigenous Papuans into the Indonesian state through the education system and the media and the transmigration to Papua of settlers from other parts of Indonesia.

Indigenous Papuans have not been passive. Hopes for an independent Papuan nation continue to resonate among both ordinary Papuans and the many insurgent groups that have waged a war for Papuan independence since the Indonesian annexation. Unarmed civilians, including local villagers and the employees of Indonesia’s many corporations operating in the region, continue to be casualties of war. It is against this backdrop, in this climate of systemic oppression of Indigenous Papuans and historical tensions, that the events of “Pig Feast” take place.

Throughout “Pig Feast,” the filmmakers engage with the idea that state-led development in West Papua constitutes a form of modern-day colonialism, as evidenced by ongoing modes of accumulation by dispossession. One of the most visible forms of such dispossession is the aforementioned process of widespread deforestation. West Papua is home to one of the largest tropical rainforests in the world. However, this territory is increasingly under threat from the PSN.

The government describes this as part of Indonesia’s drive for self-sufficiency and food security. In reality, the PSN has proceeded without the consent of local Indigenous groups. It aims to convert 2.5 million hectares of Papuan forest into 1.3 million hectares of rice fields, with smaller but still significant areas dedicated to sugarcane production and palm oil plantations. A primary goal is to reach specific fuel blending targets for plant-based fuels: E-10 (bioethanol) and B-50 (biodiesel).

The documentary also says that this deforestation project extends beyond environmental destruction, as it also disrupts what has been described in the documentary as the Indigenous Papuans’ “supermarket,” “food barn,” and “bank,” as well as their homes. This, combined with the effects of the ongoing armed conflict, has led to massive displacement, with over 105,878 people in West Papua reported as IDPs by early 2026. The clearing of forests eliminates the sago groves that, in addition to providing an important staple, are foundational to Papuans’ cultural life. Furthermore, the expansion of new forms of foreign agriculture often involves the use of harmful pesticides, which contaminate surrounding ecosystems, including water sources.

The PSN’s implementation relies heavily on military and........

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