VJ Myanmar Through the Lens

On 10 and 11 November, MARUAH is holding screenings of documentaries from inside Burma. (Burma is the name preferred by the democratic oppositon, although the country's name was officially changed to Myanmar by the ruling military dictatorship in 1989.) The films are rated NC16 and although admission is free, you have to register with MARUAH.

This is the synopsis of one of the films:

When foreign TV crews have no access to Burma, it is the courageous young citizens who risk torture and imprisonment to document events in their country, and then to smuggle their footage out. While single event clips have been seen around the world, this award-winning documentary has put the images together to tell a much bigger story. Compiled from material shot by undercover reporters, with some elements of the film reconstructed in close collaboration with the actual persons involved, Burma VJ, under the direction of acclaimed filmmakers Anders Østergaard and Jan Krogsgaard, is a testimony to the courage and passion of video journalists. Armed with little more than small handy cams, they provide a thorough documentation of dissent, and of the historical and dramatic days of September 2007, when Buddhist monks started marching.

Here is an example of what the military regime did to one of these monks:










Barely 18 months later, Singapore named an orchid after junta leader Thein Sein.

The wages of sin, it seems, are flowers.