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Nation became extremely religious, oppressive and dogmatic. In the same time, this nation of well over 300 million (official statistics lie, putting the number of people at somewhere around 250 million) counts with no great writers, filmmakers, thinkers or scientists.
Everybody there thinks the same -- the way 'they suppose to think': they love capitalism, hate Communist, they see destruction of their own natural resources as 'progress', they all listen to the same outdated Western pop music, watching the lowest Hollywood productions as well as tacky local horror films, and have the lowest number of books read per capita.
I try to explain, to analyze what happened there. I am simultaneously filming two big documentaries: one on the total destruction of the nature in the third biggest islands on earth -- Borneo (known in Indonesia as Kalimantan) -- and about the collapse of Jakarta, which is now the most polluted and perhaps one of the most 'unlivable' major cities on earth. Of course, I do it without any funding, as in the West and in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is 'untouchable'. It does precisely what the West wants it to do: it sacrifices hundreds of millions of its people, as well as its nature, so the Western population can prosper. Therefore, it is almost never criticized.
So that's about Indonesia.
I love Asia, overall, and it is my home; particularly north Asia. China, Japan, Korea(s) and Russian 'Far East'.
Southeast Asia is totally different story. It is mightily
'dark story' which I keep documenting. It suffered monstrously in the past 60
years: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, East Timor, West Papua, Indonesia, even
Thailand. It has been suffering precisely because of the Western imperialism.
But people were conditioned not to see, not to understand what was done to
them. Therefore, I work there, writing books and making films. Somebody has to"
9.
BM: You are also a war correspondent. You must have had many memorable
events as a war correspondent. Anything particular you would like to
share with us?
AV: Yes. But war is everywhere, not just in those few places where it is officially recognized.
Of course, I work in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq.
But I also work in Kashmir, or in the toughest slums in Africa, in gang lands of Central America, or in Gaza. These are war zones, too. War is where justice, including social justice, collapsed; was destroyed.
I fully agree with what Hemingway once wrote: "There are two types of writers: those who went to war, and those who are envious of them."
Since war exists almost everywhere, a writer who is not touching it, is a liar.
War is reality. It is terrible, but when it is fought for justice and freedom, it is much better than some fake peace which is created by the Western colonialists. In this type of 'peace', all health and life-expectancy indicators of a war zone are present. Rape, injuries" all like in a war zone.
The Western propagandists created very dangerous 'cult of peace'. To the West, peace is when the country fully sacrifices its natural resources and its people, for the profits of Western corporations and citizens, but the population is submissive, resigned.
They often and very correctly say in Latin America: no
justice, no peace!
10.
BM: You worked with Noam Chomsky on a book and a documentary. Can you
tell something about this legendary man? Some secret about Chomsky the
person?
AV: Noam loves roses. And a good wine. And he is, in
essence, a very kind man, with great sense of humor.
It is pity that we lately disagree: on Russia, Syria and China, for instance.
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