Art and Culture of the People of East Timor
A Documentary in progress by Luis Proenca

View the trailer
100 kps | 300 kps

East Timor is the first country of the XXI Century, which got its independence in 2002.  Before that, the people struggled for their freedom. In 1975, East Timor was invaded by Indonesian troops and remained there until 1999. During this period, in a country with less than one million people, around 100,000 people were killed.  Many went into exile and others moved to other parts of Indonesia, including West Timor.

This documentary depicts the East Timorese sufferings through art forms, such as music, dance, painting and poetry.  It also depicts the fruits of freedom, happiness and the possibility to express to freely their thoughts and feelings since their independence in 2002.  Art has become a significant way to express their new identity and culture.

During the production of this documentary in the summers of 2005 and 2006, hours of footage were collected in High Definition.  Music, dance, theater, poetry, animation, arts and crafts and painting are some of the visuals and sounds collected to express this unique culture of the people of East Timor.

The Post Production of this documentary has started and the project will be finished by the beginning of 2007.  The project was commissioned by the Portuguese Radio Television International (RTPi) and it will be broadcast all over the world.  The National Television of East Timor will also broadcast this documentary.

The following pages show some visual samples of this project. Each one of the photos is a single frame taken from the High Defenition Digital footage.

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