BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY

     With the recent extension of  Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest (thanks to an suspiciously misguided American who swam onto her compound as well as upcoming elections),  the release of Burma VJ seems a perfectly timed reminder of the consequences of Western post-colonial disinterest.  As far as the role his film should play, Anders Østergaard believes,"...in the value of consistent international attention to the plight of the Burmese people and in that respect I clearly see my film making a contribution. Not least because it is raising awareness beyond political and activist circles."

     Østergaard was planning to make a small, psychologically oriented piece about on Burmese video journalist (VJ) who was a member of an underground network of activist reporters committed to filming how the militarily controlled state terrorizes it's citizens.  As the unexpected events of September 2007 unfolded,  Østergaard expanded and changed the story and to then record history.   Since all foreign journalists were banned, this film is a unique document of that history.

     Burma has been under military rule more or less since 1962.  Despite the fact that Aung San Suu Kyi was elected with 82% of the popular vote in 1988, the military junta has never ceded power.  Instead she has been jailed for 13 of the last 19 years.  There has, of course, always been resistance and activism and in fact the election of Suu Kyi was the result of the 1988 uprising that was brutally crushed by the military leaving at least 3,000 dead.

     Economics triggered the events of 2007 also known now as the "Saffron Revolution" named after the color of the robes of the Buddhist monks who bravely marched at the head of many protests.  Burma has become increasingly isolated, living conditions for the people deteriorate every day.  In 2007, as crude oil prices increased seemingly overnight, the junta responded by lifting fuel subsidies, causing a 500% jump in prices of everything from fuel to food and other necessities.  Protests began in late August and increased day by day, with citizens joining the monks.  

     This film really belongs to "Joshua" and the other undercover VJs who carried cameras in their bags, risking their lives to shoot and then smuggle out footage of the events as they were happening.  If there is any criticism of the film, it's that they are not more clearly credited, even understanding the importance of preserving their anonymity.  But there is no getting around the strength of this footage: as a viewer it's almost unbelievable that we are in the position of witnessing, almost completely unmediated, a revolution.  Since we are in the streets, we too become hopeful and excited by the possibility of  hobbling the state machinery, of backing them down.  

     Yet we know there is no happy ending either.  Soldiers raided and killed monks all across Burma. They opened fire on crowds of citizens, murdering untold numbers.  There were reports of a crematorium burning day and night to destroy evidence of this slaughter.  When we're this close to the events we are even more devastated by our own powerlessness as well as by the tepid responses of those who can and do regularly topple governments.

     Resistance continues and "Joshua" continues to build his army of underground VJs.  I heard someone call into a radio show recently and ask why we should care about what's going on in North Korea.  He got a very practical response: they'll sell their nuclear technology to terrorists who can then hurt us.  But I think of all of the deceased Buddhist monks and what drove them and it most certainly was not self-interest but the moral responsibility we all have to cherish and protect all life, especially lives that are not our own.

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country opens May 29, 2009.

Directed by Anders Østergaard, written by Anders Østergaard and Jan Krogsgaard, produced by Lise Lense-Møller, cinematography by Simon Plum and the Burmese VJs, edited by Janus Billeskov Jansen and Thomas Papapetros, music composed by Conny Malmqvist.  Released by Oscilloscope and HBO Documentary Films.  Running time: 84 minutes.