In an age
when most of what we hear from filmmakers about technology is
negative—from popular sci-fi entertainments like Eagle Eye
to small foreign films like Sleep Dealer, the overarching
message is that computers will be the end of us—it’s ironic that
the realest film I’ve seen on the issue paints technology in a
highly positive light. In fact, in Anders Ostergaard’s
documentary, Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country,
digital cameras and the Internet are literally life-savers. The
film follows an unseen Burmese activist, called Joshua for
security reasons, who documents the struggles of those fighting
against the country’s government for democracy.
Joshua is a
part of an elaborate network of citizen-journalists, all
equipped with handheld cameras, called the Democratic Voice of
Burma. They have become famous for daringly shooting footage of
the protests in their country and smuggling it out to a
headquarters in Norway via satellite and the Internet. Not only
is the footage then broadcast to the world community, providing
the only information on the events, but also back into Burma to
those with satellite television. This is a dangerous job as the
government will imprison anyone known to be filming for the
democratic opposition. Early on in the film, Joshua is caught by
the police with his camera and is set free after effectively
playing dumb, but he must flee to Thailand and work as a
compiler and assessor of footage for the fear that they might
come after him.
While Burma
VJ educates the viewer on the recent events in Burma by
showing chunks of footage that Joshua shot in the country and
receives in Thailand, there is little background information
provided. It admittedly would have been valuable had the film
used the opportunity to detail the all-too-ignored political
instability in Burma, but that isn’t director Ostergaard’s goal.
Instead, Burma VJ becomes a piece about the power of
modern day communication in bringing awareness to little-known
causes. Because of the capabilities of home video technology,
Joshua and his compatriots are able to show the world what’s
happening in a place it could otherwise never see. Ten years
ago, this could not have happened, period. Unless a ballsy
foreign journalist snuck were to have snuck in and out Burma—a
death-wish, as the film brutally illustrates—nobody would have
heard anything about the protests.
Many
Westerners may still be unaware of the injustices in Burma, but
the film’s depiction of the Democratic Voice’s methods offers
reason to be optimistic that they soon will be. Unlike many news
organizations here in the United States, Joshua and company
fully embrace new methods of distribution to bring their footage
to the largest amount of people possible. It’s astounding to
watch Joshua type back and forth with reporters on Gmail’s chat
feature, presumably via their Blackberrys, while violent
attempts to dissolve protests are happening. In an age when
Marshall McLuhan’s assertion that “the medium is the message” is
truer than ever—think about how many politically-ambivalent
teenagers were turned on to Barack Obama by videos on
YouTube—one gets the feeling that the Democratic Voice of
Burma’s message will reach at least the younger generations
because of its distribution-style. Given that traditional
media are paying attention to the organization as well—CNN is
shown in the film many times—there’s hope for older, less
tech-savvy folks, too. Burma VJ’s implications about how
the viral nature of modern communications can be used to promote
good are nothing short of fascinating.
Beyond the
rich ideas it offers, Burma VJ also has a passionate
soul. It’s touching to watch and listen to people who risk their
lives for the great tradition that is democracy. The conviction
in Joshua’s voice-over, despite his clear fears, is unwavering.
Then there’s the widely-published, but still powerful sight of
thousands of Buddhist monks marching in the streets against the
government, as seen through the cameras of Joshua’s team. This
was not a practice condoned by their religion, but one that they
felt was the right, necessary thing to do, regardless of
doctrine. A perceptive display of the convergence of new
technology and the oppressed Old World, Burma VJ is a
moving and thought-provoking celebration of a vital quest for
social justice.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published
on: 5.29.2009
Screened on: 5.26.2009
on a DVD screener.
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed
Country is Not Rated and runs 84 minutes.
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