Children of the Crocodile.  Published as Andrea K. Molnar, "Film Review: Children of the Crocodile.  Directed by Marsha Emerman.  2001.  52 minutes, color.  Distributed by Women Make Movies, 462 Broadway, Suite 500WS New York, NY 10013, www.wmm.com," Visual Anthropology Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 and 2 (2005): 163-164. Copyright 2005 by the American Anthropological Association.  Used with permission.

This ethnographic film addresses complex and multiple issues of transnational identity and gender. It provides a touching and poignant account of the recent history of East Timor from 1975 until it achieved full nation status as the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste on May 20, 2002. Marsha Emerman tells the story through the eyes and life histories of two East Timorese women. The two cousins, Elizabeth Exposito and Cidalia Pires, fled with their families to Australia during the 1975 civil war in East Timor with the hope of returning after the strife ended. Elizabeth, the older of the two women, still remembers the fear and tenor of hiding amid gunfire and escaping to Darwin on a cargo ship with her family. Cidalia was only eight or nine months old at the time. Their families' hopes of return were dashed when the Indonesian army invaded East Timor.

While viewing a family album, the women flash back, recounting the fate of various relatives (mostly women and children) who were indiscriminately slaughtered by the invading Indonesian army or who died of starvation in the aftermath of the invasion.

The Exposito and Pires families settled in Melbourne, Australia. Both women tell their stories of the immigration experience and the ways in which their families made sure they retained their own unique East Timorese culture. Both families participated in political activism to call attention to the plight of East Timor in the international arena. The women participated in public demonstrations from the time they were children, and Cidalia participated in political theatrical and dance performances in the troupe named Surik (an ancestral sword with potent spiritual power). Cidalia viewed her performance in the troupe as way of promoting East Timorese culture and informing the Australian public of the plight of East Timor. Elizabeth's involvement in political activism followed a brief visit to East Timor at age 14 in the 1980s when she felt threatened by the menacing presence of Indonesian soldiers with machine guns.

In June 1999 Cidalia's mother returned to East Timor to help the incipient country prepare for the August 1999 United Nations-sponsored Popular Consultation. Elizabeth also returned, working in the Human Rights Center and broadcasting voter education messages as well as deliberately chosen songs about freedom. The film shows the excitement of the East Timorese, including Elizabeth's parents, when they cast their ballots in the election in which 78.5% of the population voted for independence and separation from Indonesia. While Elizabeth had always believed that independence would be possible some day, Cidalia had doubted she would ever see it in her lifetime.

The film shows the jubilation in the family household in Melbourne as they learn of the victory and sing a song entitled "No more tears," referring to the sorrow and suffering of the East Timorese people.  Next, the film cuts to the horrific post-election bloodshed, fleeing refugees throwing themselves over barbed wire surrounding the United Nations compound in Dili, and the forced deportation of East Timorese into West Timor by the Indonesian army-sponsored militia. The poor conditions in the refugee camps in West Timor and constant intimidation by the militia and Indonesian army (often hard to tell apart) are also highlighted. Elizabeth again takes part in public demonstrations as the Council of East Timorese Resistance (CNRT) representative for Victoria, calling for international intervention. More specifically, she reminds Australians that 62 thousand East Timorese died protecting Australian troops in World War II during the Japanese occupation, and that it is time for Australia to fulfill its obligation. Finally, an Australia-led peacekeeping force enters East Timor.

When the formerly imprisoned guerilla leader and current President of Timor Leste, Xanana Gusmao, beseeches East Timorese in the Melbourne Town Hall to return to East Timor, as the country needs their skills, Cidalia and Elizabeth express their ambiguity toward the idea of return. Cidalia clearly explains that she is not yet ready to return. She explains her ambiguity in terms of her strong feelings for women's rights.

She feels that traditional East Timorese society is not yet ready for western-style independent women, and more importantly, not yet accepting of lesbians. She recounts how difficult it was for her to come out and how much her father's unconditional love meant to her when she did, since he was always a strict father who held on to the traditional values of the culture of his land of birth.  Elizabeth, on the other hand, while afraid to go back, decides to return to East Timor. Upon her return she works as a liaison officer for the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), utilizing her language skills as well as her unique position and familiarity with both western and local East Timorese cultures. Elizabeth often criticizes the UN's "top down" approach and "little consultation with ordinary citizens" in preparing the East Timorese for their first parliamentary elections in 2001, which determined who would write the first constitution of the new nation. During this period, Cidalia decides to finally visit East Timor for six weeks in order to learn and record traditional dances and songs. She appears to have a positive experience, as the young people are very accepting, even of her piercings.  Her cousin Elizabeth acts as intermediary and translator when necessary.

Among the many positive aspects of the film is that the story is told through the lived experience of East Timor's struggle for independence. There is a highly personal and human connection to the horrific events of 1975 up to the joy of independence in 1999, and first free elections in 2001.  Another important aspect of the film is its focus on the struggles of Cidalia and Elizabeth with their identities as transnationals and women.

At one point in the film, Elizabeth explicitly addresses the feelings of ambiguity and liminality experienced by most transnationals. She wonders who Elizabeth is, aside from Elizabeth the East Timorese/Australian/political activist. Cidalia also struggles with her identity, with the added layer that she is a lesbian, a gender identity that is not yet accepted in traditional East Timorese society. At the end of the film the two women's ambiguity is still palpable.

I found Children of the Crocodile an excellent ethnographic film that not only spoke to me as a professional - a cultural anthropologist with ongoing research in East Timor - but also, and especially, as a transnational and former political refugee who constantly straddles multiple cultures; as a woman; and as an election observer who shared many of the 1999 and 2001 historical events of East Timor. The film is highly recommended for a variety of social science courses: cultural anthropology courses focusing on refugee and immigrant issues, gender, and politics; courses in women's studies; and history and area courses on Southeast Asia.

 (This review was uploaded to www.antarakita.net on April 14, 2006)