On April 5, 2009 I wrote some thoughts after seeing the film Burma VJ. I saw it at the 2009 Full Frame Documentary festival. The film explores the injustice of the military rule in Burma. In recent weeks there has been significant news of change in Burma; the military has announced democratic reforms and freed Aung San Suu Kyi, she is the national advocate for democracy in Burma. I'm glad to see change.
Why is this important to Troubled Waters? - It shows the power of film and cultural awareness as a true catalyst for change in a society and country.
Here's what I wrote about the film in 2009:
After Award Ceremony:
The award ceremony was what it was, an award ceremony. It is pretty safe to say the a film called, "Burma VJ" racked up the awards. It was a film I hadn't seen. After the award show I got tickets and headed off to see the award winning documentary.
Sitting outside in the sun for 50 minutes waiting to see Burma VJ wasn't as torturous as many American's like to make waiting in line. It was actually quite pleasant to sit with fellow doc lovers and wait to see another film.
After seeing "Burma VJ" I realized why it won so many awards. The film used footage captured by the Democratic Voice of Burma Network (DVB) from within the closed nation of Burma. The DVB journalist risk their lives and capture footage through any means necessary; they then smuggle it out of the country and broadcast it from Thailand back into the country and throughout the world. This film, smartly and emotionally edited footage from a horrific yet courageous event that occurred in September 2007. At that time Burmese Buddhist monks began a nationwide protest against the totalitarian military regime which oppresses the country. The film successfully recreates the dramatic events, through the eyes of one of the journalist who was the point man for communicating from Thailand to the embedded journalists in Burma and broadcasting the events to the rest the world. This one journalist, along with the network of rag tag journalist armed with cell phones and consumer cameras, was the only way for news to get out to networks such as CNN, BBC, and the US government. These journalist were our only source of knowledge about the country. The regime, murdered the monks, beat people and suppressed the movement.
The documentary completely sucks you into the Burmese VJ's world using their footage from cell phones and poor quality DV cameras. This film is simply an amazing feat and is extremely important to reveal what is happening in Burma . Giving voice to a voiceless people and an urgency to an extreme situation. I am happy it won the awards and I hope it awakens people to the Burmese reality.
Here is a current update from the BBC about the pro-democracy happenings in Burma: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15997268
Hillary Clinton and the now free Aung San Suu Kyi