TIMOR-LESTE: NATION BUILDING 101

EAST TIMOR: BETRAYAL AND RESURRECTION and the Current Elections

I started work on this film back in January of 2000 as a
television producer for UNTAET. My initial concept was to
make a film which would explain to new UNTAET staffers
why we were there; the film was to be motivational
and informational in the tradition of World War II
Allied propaganda films like the "WHY WE FIGHT" series.
I also thought it was important for the East Timorese to
to have their own historical record for the future.

We got the greenlight from my boss at UNTAET and began shooting.

As the months passed, however, I began to feel that there were
aspects of this story that UNTAET did not want to tell. Some
were obvious, and some not. I soon realized I would have to
make this film on my own and returned to New York in late 2000.

I still thought I had a winner in terms of the story alone, but
I found that the American news black-out on East Timor had been
very effective. There was no media interest in the subject at
all;to this date, my film remains the only film in America
on how the country became a nation.

After year of futile fund-raising, I bought a Final Cut Pro
editing suite and a brilliant former student from F.I.T. named
Jade Anne Benetatos insisted upon serving as my unpaid editor.
We put together the first hour of the film on the history of
of the country through the UNAMET mission of 1999 and the subsequent
destruction of the island by the Indonesian army and their militia
minions, and then showed the cut at the Dag Hammarsjold Auditorium
on May 22, 2002, to help commemorate East Timorese independence.

The audience at this screening was full of UNAMET veterans,
and their response was both very emotional and very rewarding.

I completed the film in 2003, got a distributor in Los Angeles,
(www.seventhart.com), and a website (www.easttimorfilm.com).
The film was entered in festivals from Bangkok to East Hampton,
and there were many positive responses. Then, in December, 2004,
I received the highest award possible for this kind of production -
The United Nations Correspondents Association Ricardo Ortega
Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism,awarded by
Secretary General Kofi Annan himself Other recipients included
the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, Nicole Kidman and Hnas Blix.

Needless to say, I was both thrilled and honored.

So, when we had the January 2006 screening for President Gusmao,
the circle was complete. Even my former East Timorese crew was
there, filming for Timor-Leste's only television station TVTL.
I had already sent them tapes in Timor-leste.

When President Gusmao invited me back to Timor-Leste to
make a sequel on the economic development of his country,
I eagerly accepted, my only condition being that the film
be a co-production with TVTL, and that I could use their
name in seeking funding.

A few months later, my wife and I sold our house in Connecticut
and moved to Thailand, undeterred by reports of new violence
in Dili. We soon found a new home, and I immmediately set
We soon found a new home, set up a new Final Cut Pro 5 suite
and invested in a wonderful Sony HD camera. We were ready to
rock and roll, and began adjusting to life in the tropics,
looking for new projects to sustain us while we awaited the
the outcome of the April 2007 presidential elections.

At the moment, all we know is that the first round was
hotly contested, and that a run-off is scheduled between
Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta and Lu'Olo Guterres, the
candidate of the Fretilin Party. With all due respect to
Senhor Guterres, I sincerely hope that the Nobel Peace
Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta becomes the country's next
president. He is a much-respected international figure,
and has been a master at promoting the cause of his country
in the world for the past 30 years.

I must confess I featured him prominently in my first film
(without his knowledge!) because of his eloquence and wit,
and also because I respected his courage; on more than
one occasion, I filmed him calming down angry mobs intent
upon burning down our UNTAET headquarters in Dili.

Fred Allen, the legendary American curmudgeon, once
described democracy as a " system where the people vote
for what they want, and then get it - good and hard!"

Timor-Leste has already suffered enough, and the country still has a
very, very long way to go. Let us hope that the people of Timor-leste
make a wise choice in this critical election!