High Noon in Jakarta  
Documentary (59 min.)

An unprecedented view from within the Freedom Palace in Jakarta as President Abdurrahman Wahid takes on the entrenched power of the military in a tactical battle over who will run Indonesia. Award-winning filmmaker, Curtis Levy, lived at the President's palace for four months to make this intimate portrayal of his life. Abdurrahman Wahid, known as Gus Dur, is virtually blind and has had two strokes. He is in a sense a renaissance man who loves listening to Beethoven and Janis Joplin. Before he lost his sight, Gus Dur was a big fan of movies such as High Noon and the films of Francois Truffaut. The filming took place at a time when Wahid was locked in a do-or-die struggle with General Wiranto. The General had been the strongman for the former dictator, Soeharto, and was in charge of the Indonesian army during the sacking of East Timor after the referendum. During the course of the film, President Wahid outmanoeuvers Wiranto in much the same way as a master chess player outwits his opponent.