【影片簡介】緬甸起義:看不到的真相 Burma V: Reporting from a Closed Country

【民權抗爭】篇 Struggles for Civil Rights 
 
緬甸起義:看不到的真相
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
 
 
丹麥、挪威 Denmark - Norway︱2008︱84 min︱Anders ØSTERGAARD
 
2010  奧斯卡金像獎最佳紀錄長片提名
Best Documentary Feature Nomination, Academy Award
2008  阿姆斯特丹紀錄片國際電影節最佳紀錄長片、人權獎
VPRO Joris Ivens Award & Movies that Matter Human Rights Award, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
 
二○○七年八月緬甸發生大規模的反軍政府示威運動,震驚全世界。緬甸自一九六二年就處於獨裁統治之下而與外界隔絕,因為軍政府大幅將油價調漲一至五倍,引發廣大貧困人民的嚴重不滿,紛紛走上街頭,要求民生物資價格合理化。抗爭行動持續一個月後,身穿紅袍的僧侶們也陸續成群出現在遊行隊伍中,他們將缽盤倒轉,抗議當權者讓百姓餓肚子。僧侶本不該涉入政治,但為了受苦的人民竟然挺身而出,此舉讓抗爭的民眾群情激憤,連當時仍遭到軟禁的昂山素姬也含淚站在家門口向僧侶們致意。
 
於此同時,有一群年輕人冒著入獄與被刑求的危險,將小型DV攝影機暗藏在衣物裡,再輾轉利用衛星,從海外將他們秘密偷拍下的歷史性畫面公諸於世,他們稱自己為「緬甸民主之聲」(Democratic Voice of Burma,簡稱DVB)。
 
本片記錄的正是在珍貴新聞畫面背後,這群出生入死的公民影像記者的故事。透過重整他們拍攝的影像畫面,以及匿名的訪談,真實呈現出緬甸人們對於民主的渴求,以及新聞自由的重要性,在某個程度上,也影響了日後包括「阿拉伯之春」等民主抗爭運動的走向。
 
Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders OSTERGAARD, brings us close to the “video journalists” who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.
 
Armed with small handycams the Burma VJs stop at nothing to make their reportages from the streets of Rangoon. Their material is smuggled out of the country and broadcast back into Burma via satellite and offered as free usage for international media. The whole world has witnessed single event clips made by the VJs, but for the very first time, their individual images have been carefully put together and at once, they tell a much bigger story.
 
The film offers a unique insight into high-risk journalism and dissidence in a police state, while at the same time providing a thorough documentation of the historical and dramatic days of September 2007, when the Buddhist monks started marching.
  
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