Passabe

In 1999, Passabe village in the now independent Timor-Leste was the scene of a massacre carried out by the pro-Indonesian militia. Five years later, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up by the UN is trying to rebuild ties between communities. How does one live with neighbours, knowing what they have done? The former militiaman, Alexio, has decided to confess to the murder he committed. His calls for truth deeply moves the villagers. He knows what risks he runs, but also knows that one cannot live without a conscience. In an isolated house, the banished and unhappy wife of a militia leader awaiting trial is obstinately trying to understand and clings to her land. The victims shout their anger and are loathe to forgive. The tribal chiefs return to the traditional customs of compensation and social bonding. All of the Commission’s decisions must be validated by ceremonies that integrate them into local beliefs, nature and the ancestors’ judgements. The path to appeasement looks like a long one and the past has not yet passed.