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space Sing! Timor

"Canta! Timor" was filmed in East Timor, just after its independence.
The story begins with a piece of music, and through a journey of a Japanese woman, it tells how the Timorese kept their music and forgave their enemies in order to obtain independence, in a cruel situation during 24 years of the military attack.
Simple but beautiful songs are impressive, that leads the entire story.
Including valuable interviews of the local people,
guerrillas, and the first president Xanana Gusmao.
The vibrant speaking words and their gentleness
sink deep into hearts.


In East Timor, 2003. I heard a man singing a song. Even after having returned to Japan, it somehow resonated within me.
I decided to go back to Timor in search of the man------


"We make mistakes. The Land understands..."
It was a song sung figuratively in secret under the
military control of Indonesia.

I went deep into the breathtaking nature of the island. What I saw there was a life with spirits, and villagers’ big beaming smiles. On the other hand of the bright cheerfulness, there was a dark shadow of the invasion that deprived of a third of the population. There were the interest in the Timor Sea oil fields, the behaviors of Japan and the western countries, and a severe press restraints...

“Our strength is bestowed by Land.
We danced on this ground,
received its power, and survived as one.”

“Anger? No. Not anymore.
We’re all the same.
Japan, Indonesia, Timor...
All brothers and sisters. One father,
one mother. Children of the land...”

"We make mistakes. The Land understands..."
Through the journey, I came to understand
the meaning of that song...