Singapore & Burma
Singapore & Burma Delegation
September 14 - October 1, 2009
Filmmaker: Anayansi Prado, Children in No Man's Land
Expert: Martha Foster
Delegate Report
by Martha Foster
The American Documentary Showcase visits to Singapore and Burma/Myanmar were a stunning experience for me as Film Specialist with the delegation. Following is a report that summarizes my experience and evaluation of the impact of the Showcase, and lays out my thoughts on the potential for future media relations efforts with Burma in particular.
The Showcase tour was in many ways a study in contrasts. Significantly, these cut several directions: Contrasts between Singapore and Burma, definitely, but even more dramatically, contrasts between each country and the US. This was front and center for audiences and delegation alike. The Showcase provided a sophisticated and effective platform for dialogue, and has opened possibilities for additional contact and cooperation in both Burma and Singapore. The primary goal of the showcase––to give others around the world a more realistic appreciation of American life––was accomplished in screening after screening, totaling some 20 programs between Singapore and Burma.
Jefferson Center, Mandalay (Anayansi is on left, Martha is on right, in back)
The screenings and discussions were overwhelmingly successful in engaging audiences, and encouraging open exploration of parallels and contrasts between life in the US and the host countries. Further, the delegation was repeatedly approached by individuals and representatives of organizations who are eager for continued contact and hoping for future cooperation and support. Within the Embassies, particularly in Burma, there have been statements from personnel at several levels in support of related future programming.
Retired government officials, Yangon screening
Perhaps most interesting of all, the US Embassy in Burma received an inquiry from the Burmese Ministry of Information regarding acquiring American documentaries for broadcast on Burma State Television. I believe this resulted from the presence at one screening of two retired military officials, both of who appeared very skeptical and reserved at the beginning of the program, but who warmed dramatically during the screening and discussion to the point of approaching me with their thanks and wishes to stay in touch.
The film screened on this occasion, America’s Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie, sparked a discussion about conservation, NGOs, and the availability of outside resources for the infant NGOs that the Burmese government is tentatively allowing to take root. Among the possibilities I see for future engagement with Burma are support of the request for American documentaries for broadcast, making introductions to US NGOs, providing additional materials to the American Center in Yangon and the Jefferson Center in Mandalay, a potential faculty appointment of an American at the Myanmar Culture University, and scheduling annual repeats of the Showcase visit.
NGO Center, Yangon
There are a number of factors to which I attribute the success of the programs in both Singapore and Burma in creating audience engagement. First and foremost is the sophistication of the program selection. Whereas some in the audience might have expected American “propaganda,” bragging about our ideal country and lifestyle, what was actually presented was a far more nuanced and complex view of the US than is generally available to the public outside of the country. The willingness for the Showcase to include films that represent both America’s greatest strengths and some of her deepest flaws inspired admiration among audiences accustomed to strict government control of information. It also led to some very emotional and revealing discussions of freedom of speech, the electoral process and even the flaws of democracy as a system of government. In the end, it left me feeling more deeply proud of my country than I can remember on previous trips to Asia.
Mary Chapman School for the Deaf, Yangon
Another factor furthering the goals of the Showcase is the fact that our delegation consisted of two women. Whereas we might never give this a second thought today in the US, there were people in Burma who were shocked into the realization of new possibilities. Anayansi Prado, the filmmaker with the delegation, was approached by a Burmese woman who confessed that it had never occurred to her that there might be women representing the US in the program.
On-the-ground personnel at both Embassies did an outstanding job of setting up screenings prior to our arrival and taking care of logistics. To a person, they were helpful, well prepared, friendly and just generally delightful. There were some minor difficulties with a few screenings, and it seemed that the Embassies could have used a little more guidance on programming the films. While the Showcase is partly directed at students, few films were appropriate for student audiences as young as those at the Science Center in Singapore and at the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Yangon.
I am very grateful to be a part of this very significant initiative.
Listen to the radio interview