Act of no choice

This video tells the tragic story of West Papua through the eyes of Arie Van Klinken : a Dutch patrol officer in the 50s and 60s ; William Zongannau: a prominent West Papuan politician in the 1960s ; and Hugh Lunn: the only living journalist who witnessed the farcical ‘Act of Free Choice” for West Papua in 1969. Through access to secret documents, the film uncovers how Australia colluded with Indonesia to keep the so called “Act of Free Choice” a secret from the outside world. Contains Dutch home movies, newsreel footage and previously unseen film coverage of the “Act of Free Choice”. Music by David Bridie and Arthur Lyman.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

producer/director

Mark Worth

production company

Kino Eye Pictures

Duration

00:29:00:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1999

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

311459

Language

English

Audience classification

G

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Irian Jaya (Indonesia)

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Papua New Guinea

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Australia

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Democracy

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Papua New Guinea - Politics and government

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Political persecution

History → History

History → Papua New Guinea - History

Places → Irian Jaya (Indonesia)

Places → Papua New Guinea

Short films

Short films → Short films - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/88844--act-of-no-choice/ |title=Act of no choice |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=8 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

Australia, 1999

Please note