A Papua film that some tried to block hits 13 million views

A documentary about Papua that some people tried to stop from being shown has instead reached a huge audience online. Called "Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time" (in Indonesian, Pesta Babi: Kolonialisme di Zaman Kita), the 90-minute film went online on 22 May 2026 and passed 13 million views on YouTube within two weeks. Writing for Indonesia at Melbourne, Hellena Souisa explains that this came after nearly 2,000 community screenings around the country and abroad, at least 50 of which were disrupted, cancelled, or met with intimidation.

The film, directed by Dandhy Dwi Laksono and Cypri Jehan Paju Dale, examines a large government project in South Papua. The plan, treated as a National Strategic Project, involves clearing about 2.5 million hectares of rainforest and would displace around 107,000 people. Its title comes from Awon Atatbon, a ritual of the Muyu people in which pigs stand as symbols of protecting the forest. It was made together with groups including Jubi, Greenpeace Indonesia, and Watchdoc.

For the author, the story is bigger than one film. The way it broke through, despite efforts to block screenings, is a test of whether independent media can still reach people in Indonesia at a time when space for open debate is shrinking. The huge view count suggests strong public interest in what is happening in Papua, a region where reporting is often difficult and tightly controlled.

Why it matters

If you care about Indonesia's forests or about press freedom, this shows both a warning and an opening: officials tried to limit the film, but people watched it in the millions anyway. The Papua project it describes would clear a huge area of rainforest and move tens of thousands of people, decisions that affect the whole country's environment and its rights record. Watch how the government responds to the attention, and whether the project's plans change.