It’s profound, amazing, important and very hard to watch. Screening this documentary is difficult in part because of the oppressiveness and the violence on Monks and civilians and in part due to the shakey guerrilla camera work.

These brave “video jockeys” risked their lives, risked their freedom to snatch glimpses of the brutality of Burma’s military government. So, we can’t expect crisp steady shots of the action. Sometimes these guys were running from gunfire with the camera in or hanging out of the bag.

These “in the field” sequences are edited with intermittent visits to a vj coordinator in Thailand. We hear the conversations (in English) between he and his vj who is live and in the field during citizen/soldier conflicts.

One cannot help but admire the courage and spirit of these modern-day freedom fighters. However, the documentary left me wanting to know more about the history of this regime, the history and religion of the Monks, the daily life of ordinary citizens during less tense times and during tense times. There is so much more to know about this conflict.

Don’t get me wrong, this incredible footage should be seen. The oppressive government needs to be exposed and the plight of the citizens of Burma needs to known to the rest of the world, I just think there are better ways to use this footage -- youtube would be one excellent way.

Directed by Anders Ostergarrd, Screenplay by Anders Ostergaard and Jan Krogsgaard. Producer Lise Lense-moller at Magic Hour Films.

-- Books by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony --