BURMA VJ – Reporting from a closed country
Zomi for Federalization and Democratization of Burma
Burma VJ
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BURMA VJ – Reporting from a closed country
"This film BURMA VJ is comprised largely by material shot by
undercover reporters in Burma. Some elements of the film have been
reconstructed in close collaboration with the actual persons involved,
just as some names, places, and other recognizable facts have been
altered for security reasons and in order to protect individuals. ”
Armed with small handy cams undercover Video Journalists in Burma keep
up the flow of news from their closed country. Going beyond the
occasional news clip from Burma, acclaimed director Anders Østergaard,
brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage.
Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of
Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the
flow of news from their closed country. The Burma VJs stop at nothing
to make their reportages from the streets of Rangoon.
Their material is smuggled out of the country and broadcast back into
Burma via satellite and offered as free usage for international media.
The whole world has witnessed single event clips made by the VJs, but
for the very first time, their individual images have been carefully
put together and at once, they tell a much bigger story. ”Joshua”, age
27, is one of the young video journalists, who works undercover to
counter the propaganda of the military regime. Foreign TV crews are
suddenly banned from the country, so it’s left to Joshua and his crew
to keep the revolution alive on TV screens all over.
With Joshua as the psychological lens, the Burmese condition is made
tangible to a global audience so we can understand it, feel it, and
smell it. The film offers a unique insight into high-risk journalism
and dissidence in a police state, while at the same time providing a
thorough documentation of the historical and dramatic days of
September 2007, when the Buddhist monks started marching.
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http://burmavjcom.title.dk/burma-vj/
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About Burma
Burma vj
Donate
Cinemas
Festivals
Awards & Reviews
About Burma
Trailer
Blog
Links
Contact
Burma: Censorship, propaganda and detentions
The Burmese military regime provides a perfect example of a
dictatorial system that leaves little room for private initiatives,
resting as it does on a heightened paranoia that involves keeping
control of the media. The official press has the role of endorsing the
inter-dependence of the military and the people and asserting the
junta’s legitimacy.
Scores of privately-owned publications do their best in this
situation, but have to cope with advance censorship on the part of the
military. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has kept
going the censorship system established by Ne Win in the 1960s: every
article, report, book or song must secure the approval of the feared
information ministry, through the Press Scrutiny and Registration
Board (PSB), to be published or broadcast. Access to new technology
remains very restricted.
Burma has two Internet Service Providers (ISP), the Myanmar Post and
Telecom (MPT) and Bangan Net/Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan
Cybertech). Each has about 15,000 subscribers, putting the rate of
Internet penetration at 0.6%. The Burmese have access to a restricted
Internet. Anyone connecting illegally can be punished with a heavy
prison sentence and the very few cybercafés only provide access to a
limited number of websites: Hotmail, Yahoo, the BBC and all websites
relating to Burma are banned by the government, which blocks them.
Burma is ranked 170th out of 173 countries in Reporters Without
Borders’ 2008 world press freedom index and the situation is
worsening. A crackdown launched after September 2007 demonstrations
continues to this day: Scores of journalists have been arrested or
threatened and military censorship is severe.
Popular demonstrations, led by Buddhist monks in August and September
2007 shook the military government which has ruled the country for
more than 40 years. Despite pressure from the international community,
the junta’s reaction was brutal: at least 100 people were killed,
thousands arrested and a climate of fear and denunciations took hold.
Burmese Internet-users were restricted to just a few hours online a
day during in October and November. The regime ordered access
providers to limit exchanges between the Burmese people and the rest
of the world. The junta aimed to prevent the spread of film on sharing
sites such as YouTube, Dailymotion, and Flickr. Cutting off the
Internet isolated the country, with rumour replacing news and reducing
footage to that taken by foreign media.
The junta unsurprisingly also strictly controlled the sale of foreign
publications within the country. Magazines Time and Newsweek and Thai
newspapers disappeared from the newsstands in the first few weeks. At
the end of December, Burmese authorities raised the price of a
satellite licence by 167 times, from 6,000 to one million Kyats (from
five to 800 dollars). This was aimed particularly at DVB TV whose
deputy director told Reporters Without Borders “The military junta
knows the power of an image. They are not going to let DVB TV and
foreign televisions become the principal source of news in Burma. Even
if 90% of satellite dish owners don’t have licences, this decision is
perhaps the first step to imposing control”.
So it has been “ordinary” Burmese who have made up for the absence of
the journalists. Equipped with mobile phones, digital cameras and
memory cards, they have played a vital role in covering events and
sending news, pictures and video to foreign and exiled media, while
the government has done its utmost to maintain a news blackout.
http://burmavjcom.title.dk/about-burma/
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BURMA VJ
Global
Basic Info
Type:
Entertainment & Arts - Movies
Description:
BURMA VJ – Reporting from a closed country
A feature documentary by Anders Østergaard.
Produced by Magic Hour Films.
Co-Productions WG Film, MEDIAMENTE, KAMOLI Films
Armed with small handycams undercover Video Journalists in Burma keep
up the flow of news from their closed country despite risking torture
and life in jail. Their material is smuggled out of Burma and
broadcast back via satellite.
”Joshua”, age 27, becomes tactical leader of a group of reporters, as
Buddhist monks in September 2007 lead a massive uprising. Foreign TV
crews are banned from the country, so it’s left to Joshua and his crew
to keep the revolution alive on TV screens all over. As government
intelligence understands the power of the camera, the VJs become their
prime target.
BURMA VJ
RUNNING TIME 84 min
TECHNICAL DATA HDV / DIGIBETA / colour / Dolby Digital
LANGUAGE English - also Burmese dialogue, English subtitles
CATEGORY Feature Documentary
DIRECTOR Anders Østergaard
SCREENPLAY Anders Østergaard, Jan Krogsgaard
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Simon Plum, Burmese VJ’s
EDITORS Janus Billeskov Jansen, Thomas Papapetros
COMPOSER Conny Malmqvist
SOUND DESIGNER Martin Hennel
PRODUCER Lise Lense-Møller
ASSISTANT PRODUCER Cecilia Valsted
PRODUCTION MAGIC HOUR FILMS
FINANCE [DK] Danish Film Institute, DR TV, Danida, Danish Ministry of
Education, Dansk Metal
[SE] Swedish Film Institute, SVT [N] NRK, Fritt Ord, IKON - Nordic
Film & TV Fund
[DE/FR] WDR/arte, [GB] Channel 4, Yes
INTERNATIONAL SALES First Hand Films World Sales
ESTHER VAN MESSEL | TEL +41 44 312 2060 | Fritz Heeb Weg 5 8050 Zürich
Switzerland |
E-MAIL esther.v...@firsthandfilms.com | www.firsthandfilms.com
FESTIVALS Danish Film Institute CONTACT Anne.Marie Kürstein E-MAIL
kurs...@dfi.dk
WEB SITE www.burmavj.com
PRESS CONTACT DK Freddy Neumann & Helle Ulsteen +45 2143 5238
Contact Info
Email:
Website:
http://www.burmavj.com
Office:
Magic Hour Films
Location:
Baldersgade 6
Copenhagen, Denmark
Recent News
U.S. Theater Dates!
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19-Jun – Charlotte, NC – Regal Park Terrace
19-Jun – Boston, MA – Balcony Coolidge
24-Jun – Portland, ME – SPACE Gallery
26-Jun – Tallahassee, FL – Regal Miracle 5
26-Jun – Austin, TX – Regal Arbor
09-Jul – Santa Fe, NM – Center for Contemporary Arts
09-Jul – Hudson, NY – Time & Space
17-Jul – Chicago, IL – Gene Siskel Center
17-Jul – San Francisco, CA – Landmark Lumiere
17-Jul – Berkeley, CA – Landmark Shattuck
24-Jul – Cleveland, OH – Cleveland Museum of Art
31-Jul – Washington, DC – Landmark E-Street
07-Aug – Salt Lake City, UT – Tower
12-Aug – Huntington, NY – Cinema Arts Centre
28-Aug – Seattle, WA – NW Film Forum
06-Sep – Albuquerque, NM – Guild Cinema
UK & Irelend. Theater Dates!
----------------
All 14th July for the Nationwide Saffron Premiere
Scotland
Aberdeen - Belmont Picturehouse
Edinburgh – Cameo
North
Ambleside – Zefferellis
Newcastle – Tyneside
Sheffield – Odeon
York – Picturehouse
North West
Lancaster – Dukes Playhouse
Liverpool – FACT
Manchester – Odeon
Wigan – Empire
Wales and Borders
Aberystwyth – Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Cardiff – Odeon
Prestatyn – Scala
Central and Eastern
Cambridge - Arts Picturehouse
Derby – Odeon
Henley – Regal
Lincoln – Odeon
Norwich - Cinema City
Oxford – Phoenix
South West
Bath - The Little Theatre
Exeter – Picturehouse
Southampton - Harbour Lights
Swindon – Empire
South East
Brighton - Duke of York’s Picturehouse
Hatfield – Odeon
High Wycombe – Empire
Guildford – Odeon
Kingston – Odeon
London – Odeon Covent Garden
London - BAFTA
London – Clapham Picturehouse
London – Empire West End
London - Gate Notting Hill
London - Greenwich Picturehouse
London – Lexi Kilburn
London - Phoenix East Finchley
London – Ritzy Brixton
Maidenhead – Odeon
Tunbridge Wells – Odeon
Wimbledon – Odeon
Ireland
Dublin – Irish Film Institute
BURMA VJ - AWARDS
/ UPDATED 6. April 2009
CPH:DOX 2008 (DENMARK)
• Amnesty Award
• DOX:Awards
Amsterdam, IDFA 2008 (HOLLAND)
• Joris Ivens Award
• Movies that Matter Human Rights Award
Sundance Film Festival 2009 (USA)
• World Cinema Documentary Editing Award
Berlinale 2009: (GERMANY)
• Cinema for Peace International Human Rights Film Award
Bodil (Danish Golden Globe) 2009: (DENMARK)
• Best Documentary
Boulder International Film Festival 2009 (USA)
• Grand Prix
Robert , Danish Film Academy Award 2009 (DENMARK)
• Best Long Documentary
ZagrebDox 2009 (CROATIA)
• Movies that Matter Human Rights Award
• Special mention
ONE WORLD 2009 (CZECH REPUBLIC)
• The Vaclav Havel Special Award
• Student Jury Award
11th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (GREECE)
• AUDIENCE AWARD
• Amnesty International Award
FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL (USA)
• Anne Dellinger Grand Jury Award
• Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award
(Sponsored by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.
This award honors a documentary artist whose work is a potential
catalyst for education and change.)
• Full Frame / Working Films Award
Sponsored by the Ettinger Foundation and Chicken & Egg Pictures and
Working Films. This prize is awarded to the film that has the greatest
potential for supporting serious grassroots organizing and social
change.)
ITS ALL TRUE – 14th International Documentary Film Festival – Sao
Paulo (Brazil)
• Best Documentary
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