An award-winning documentary short

MYANMAR YEAR ZERO is an emotional journey into a country (formerly known as Burma) that was sealed off from the international community for over 60 years by a brutal military dictatorship. Now entering the modern world following surprising reforms in 2011 – greater freedom of press, the opening of trade with the international community and the release of many political prisoners – its fate hangs in the balance as civil war and ethnic cleansing stain the progress of the pro-democracy movement.

Seen through the eyes of prominent pro-democracy leaders, many of whom had just been released from prison or returned from exile in the 2012 amnesty, the film catches up with a country undergoing major transformations politically and economically. Our witnesses express the wish for the spirit of peace and reconciliation to prevail during their country’s tumultuous transition from a military regime to quasi-democracy.

Despite the optimism of recent elections, a pall hangs over the country as ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya (a Muslim population) is carried out by the Burmese military and nationalist Buddhist monks. The reluctance of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out against these horrors, as well as a tightening of the press once again, has diminished the joy of the 2015 elections where Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy gained a majority in Parliament. Unfortunately, the military still maintains control over the most important sectors of government.

Myanmar stands at a critical juncture and the well being of its people hangs in the balance. Time will tell if recent developments mark the first steps toward real democratization and national reconciliation, or if the influence of the military and its cronies will prevail.

Woman and child begging for food outside a Bagan restaurant

IN MARCH 2021, A MILITARY COUP ECLIPSED THE GAINS DESCRIBED ABOVE. THE PICTURE IS BLEAK AS THE HORRORS OF PAST DICTATORSHIPS HAVE BEEN RESURRECTED.

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