Burma VJ

Denmark / UK / Norway / Sweden, 2008, 85’

FOLLOWED BY A MEETING WITH DIRECTOR ANDERS ØSTERGAARD

In 2007, led by pacifist Buddhist monks, more than 100 000 people took to the streets in Burma in protest of the 40 year-long dictatorship. Foreign journalists were banished, internet contact was severed, and the country was cut-off from the rest of the world. In spite of this, a handful of local reporters armed with modest video cameras risked their lives to record the repressions. 27 year-old Joshua becomes the group’s leader. Thanks to his activity from a hideout in Thailand, the filmed material is sent to Norway and from there, via satellite, the events in Burma are shown to the world. Burma becomes front-page news and the hottest story on TV. The shaky footage from on the scene creates an effect of being physically present. This film could be a riveting thriller if it wasn’t the dire truth.

According to the international organization Reporters without Borders 2008 press freedom index, Burma, alongside North Korea, is included in the world’s 5 most repressed countries.

Film’s trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKGpJo5EKwg&feature=related

Directed by Anders Østergaard

Produced by Magic Hour Films