Archive Cinema City 2009.
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis:
The documentary Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country by Danish director Andres Østergaard gathered exclusive shots made by reporters of "The Democratic Voice of Burma", who filmed the life truth, hiding their cameras under the clothes or in bags. "The Democratic Voice of Burma" is an organization of about thirty reporters who, in secrecy, make films about human rights violations in their own country. The shots are then secretly taken across the border and, via the satellite in Oslo, the truth is broadcast into the world. In this way the pictures were seen worldwide showing the end of summer of 2007, when the revolution in Burma was about to happen. Buddhist priests were at the head of the column of more than 100,000 people in a peaceful walk, a way of a protest against the military dictatorship that had held the country in an iron fist for forty years.
About the director:
Anders Østergaard was born in 1965 in Copenhagen in Denmark. He directed his first film in 1996. Since then, he won several important awards for his work at international film festivals.
Official site
Trailer
Nominations:
Grand Jury Prize, 2009 Sundance Film Festival
Awards:
Joris Ivens Award, Movies That Matter Award, 2008 Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival
World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award, 2009 Sundance Film Festival
