PUNITIVE DAMAGE

“When 20 year old New Zealand-Malaysian student Kamal Bamadhaj travelled to East Timor to assist a human rights investigation, his last words to his mother were “I’ll be careful, Mum”. Three weeks later he was dead, shot at point blank range by the Indonesian military.

“Televised images of the massacre at Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili, East Timor, sent shock waves around the world. Kamal Bamadhaj, was among the estimated 271 unarmed East Timorese killed by the occupying Indonesian military.

“On 13 November 1991, Helen Todd received a phone call every parent dreads.  Her 20 year old son, Kamal, had been injured, shot on a small island the world knew little about – East Timor.  The nightmare of the next few days intensified, until finally she was informed of his death, then blocked from travel to the island by the Indonesian authorities.

“In her grief, Helen Todd became determined to avenge her son’s death.  She eventually found a way to fight the Indonesian Government and those responsible in a landmark international court case.  As Kamal’s story unfolds, PUNITIVE DAMAGE is not only a mother’s tale of sorrow, but also a testimony to the brutal reality of Indonesia’s military occupation of East Timor.

“Festival/Awards: Medianet Award (Munich); Locarno; Chicago; IDFA; Hawaii.” - New Zealand Film Commission; www.nzfilm.co.nz/film/punitive-damage; 4/02/2014.