#286. LayarDocu : Burma VJ - Reporter i et lukket land [2009]

A Magic Hour Films production, in association with WG Film, Mediamente, Kamoli Films, with participation of SVT, DR TV, Channel 4, NRK, Danish Film Institute, Danida. (International sales: First Hand Films, Zurich.) Produced by Lise Lense-Moller. Directed by Anders Ostergaard. Written by Jan Krogsgaard, Ostergaard.Camera (color, HD), Burma's undercover reporters, Simon Plum; editors, Thomas Papapetros, Janus Billeskov Jansen; music, Conny Malmqvist; sound, Martin Hennel. Running time: 84 MIN.(English, Burmese dialogue)
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“Armed with pocket-sized video cameras, a tenacious band of Burmese reporters face down death to expose the repressive regime controlling their country. In 2007, after decades of self-imposed silence, Burma became headline news across the globe when peaceful Buddhist monks led a massive rebellion. More than 100,000 people took to the streets protesting a cruel dictatorship that has held the country hostage for more than 40 years. Foreign news crews were banned, the Internet was shut down, and Burma was closed to the outside world. So how did we witness these events? Enter the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), aka the Burma VJs. Compiled from the shaky handheld footage of the DVB, acclaimed filmmaker Anders Ostergaard’s Burma VJ pulls us into the heat of the moment as the VJs themselves become the target of the Burmese government. Their tactical leader, code-named Joshua, oversees operations from a safe hiding place in Thailand. Via clandestine phone calls, Joshua dispenses his posse of video warriors, who covertly film the abuses in their country, then smuggle their footage across the border into Thailand. Joshua ships the footage to Norway, where it is broadcast back to Burma and the world via satellite. Burma VJ plays like a thriller, all the more scary because it is true.” Burma VJ wins Joris Ivens Award and Movies That Matter Award in Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival 2008 also received World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award in Sundance Film Festival 2009. The film opens in New York City in May, 2009.Østergaard and Joshua talk about the film at Independent Film Talk [http://www.ifc.com].