Burma VJ

I had the pleasure to see this remarkable and inspiring film screen at SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. The film is truly unusual and unique. It is the type of film that leads you to appreciate the freedoms that Americans take for granted. However, flawed journalism is in the United States, our first amendment allows journalists to report freely. In Burma, journalism is a crime and those who report the truth are risking their lives to bring the story of their country's repressive regime to the rest of the world. Burma VJ is the story of the efforts of a remarkable group of Burmese photojournalists – with the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) - who secretly videotape during the failed Sept, 2007 uprising against the Burmese military regime. The bravery of the journalists who attempt to report these events and the monks who led the rebellion against the military is humbling and the videos they take are mesmerizing.

Sadly, these events made headlines for a few days in 2007 and then the world promptly forgot about Burma yet again. It remains today one of the most isolated and forgotten places on Earth. Its regime remains one of the most repressive in the world, perhaps only behind that of North Korea. This film is a cry for the world not to forget the on-going tragedy of Burma. The story almost tells itself as it gives us the chance to bear witness to the crimes against humanity committed by the military junta. Of course, the video quality of recordings on small hidden cameras sometimes leaves something to be desired, but their very shakiness reflects narrowness of the link connecting us back to suffering of the Burmese.

This film is testament to the Burmese struggle and it should be viewed by all those who believe that all humans deserve the right to live in freedom. It is a beautiful eloquent testimony to the human desire to be free and I hope many people watch and rally to the support of the long-suffering people of Burma. Their story deserves to be told and Burma VJ is an unforgettable film of human courage.

Burma (where, ironically, George Orwell was born) is perhaps the country in the world that most resembles an Orwellian nightmare, under the grip of a repressive military dictatorship for over 40 years. In the west, we don't usually hear much about it, which is, one suspects, much as its rulers would like. But this absorbing documentary tells the story of a (sadly failed) revolt that took place in 2007, as well as the story of those who reported it in defiance of the authorities. And it's a shocking film to see: if the monks protest against the government, the government has no qualms about killing the monks. When the army (for whatever reason) refused to break ranks with its generals, the revolution was doomed; fundamentally, no-one want to die. The generals' propaganda would almost be funny if it wasn't backed up by the utter willingness to use lethal force, even in the face of peaceful protest. 'Burma VJ' is an important testament to the grim reality of life in the country; but at the end, even the resistance leaders are despairing of hope.

I knew very little about Myanmar prior to watching this film, but learnt much from it. It shows vividly how a military dictatorship can brutally suppress demonstrators who want to have more human rights and freedoms. This occurs in front of our eyes as brave camera people clandestinely film the "freedom movement" demonstrations. We see that as more and more people rally to the cause, the government and military react severely to suppress the manifestations, showing no tolerance whatsoever to their people. At the end of the documentary we learn that several of the camera people were arrested and their current whereabouts are unknown. Watch the special features for interviews with monks who bravely participated in the rallies and another short film on the civil war in Myanmar. If you are from a democratic country like myself, you realize how fortunate you are.

While "Burma VJ" isn't the easiest film in the world to watch, it is a very important and brave one. Like such documentaries as "The Square" and "Karama Has No Walls", it consists of some amateur filmmakers risking their lives to record efforts to bring democracy to their nations by standing up to the thugs running the government. Unfortunately, while all these are very brave films, the Oscar folks have nominated them and yet DIDN'T give them the Oscars. Lesson learned--such films often seem to get nominated but also seldom win.

This particular film is about the freedom movement in Myanmar (Burma) in 2007. After 19 years of being led by a repressive military junta, a mass movement of monks and the public took to the streets to protest. Unfortunately, the government didn't seem to have much problem with arresting and killing these people. Footage of the repressive soldiers doing awful things were secreted out of the country and the film is made up of this footage.

The footage is quite interesting. The film's narration, however, seems very impromptu and could be better and less rambling. It could also have used a bit of editing to tighten up the film a bit. Still, it's an exciting film and one that is worth seeing.

Burma is an oppressive military state. It's illegal to protest in public. Men with guns will come and take you away if you do it. In 2007 a massive uprising began in the country when fuel prices became too high.

The images of the monks marching in the streets were the defining image of this uprising but this documentary shows a lot more footage, the really important footage which is worth seeing.

The video journalists in Burma (Myanmar) record everything undercover and sneak the footage out of the country so it can be broadcast around the world.

The images are pretty stark, the army shooting unarmed civilians in the street, beating up and carrying away monks, a dead monk floating in a river the day after they were arrested.

This is a very good documentary about the people rising up and fighting what is pretty much an impossibly authoritarian force. The soldiers have guns, the civilians have flags and video cameras. It's not hard to see who will win when you think of it this way. And yet the students, monks and rest of the people in the streets never waiver. They march onward, even saying, "Those who don't fear death, come to the front". That's bravery. Our political fights in North America and the rest of the Western world, while important are a mere shadow compared to the people of Myanmar.

Burma is of course only one story of an authoritarian government, there are many more. Canadian and American companies regularly do business with this regime and rape the land of its resources. It's pretty obvious why Canadian troops are "fighting for democracy" in Afghanistan instead of Burma. We don't don't control the resources there, we do in Burma.