Burma Soldier

Sunday October 2nd 2011 | 17.15
De Balie | Kleine zaal
English subtitles

Burma - 70 min – 2010

Burma Soldier provides a rare glimpse of brutal dictatorship seen through the eyes of a courageous former soldier who switches sides. Myo Myint joined the Burmese army, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years; in his teens he witnessed atrocities committed by his comrades against his own people. 

Later, he became a democrat, joining the mass movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Born in 1963, a year after the military seized power in Burma, Myo Myint grew up under the military. During the fights on the frontline, he got wounded. After his discharge he dedicated his life to bring peaceful change to Burma. He joined the momentous 1988 protests. The junta arrested him and he endured 15 years of abuse, sickness, and neglect in Burma’s gulag. 

Burma Soldier follows Myo Myint’s transformation from a soldier of the junta to a fighter for democracy; from a prisoner of the regime to a free man in a foreign country. It is the story of a nation seen through the eyes of one remarkable person. 

Directors: Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg, Ricki Stern
With: Myo Myint Cho, executive producer: Julie leBrocquy
Producers: Julie leBrocquy, Annie Sundberg, Ricki Stern, Nic Dunlop
Screenplay: Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg
Editor: Sinead Kinnane
Score: Paul Brill
Camera: Michael Glowacki, Nic Dunlop - narrator: Colin Farrell
Commissioning editor Buddhist Broadcasting Foundation: Babeth M. VanLoo