Burma
Burma Delegation
October 25-30, 2010
Filmmakers: Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, Trouble the Water
Expert: Diane Carson
“During a reception after New Muslim Cool, several teachers and Muslim members expressed their appreciation for this film and our presentation of it. This was a valuable outreach experience. Most viewers said they knew little about the American Muslim community and, therefore, learned a lot.” – Diane Carson
Delegate Report
by Diane Carson
This delegation to Burma included 14 presentations of as many different films from the American Documentary Showcase. Audiences at different programs included students 14 to 16-years old, professionals affiliated with the Renewable Energy Association Myanmar (REAM), physically handicapped men and women, music school students, Islamic leaders and individuals studying English at the American Center. The diverse audiences shared an interest in the documentary films we screened and discussed, and they also expressed curiosity about America and our lives there. In turn, we had a keen desire to learn about the viewers’ lives in Burma/Myanmar and about their history and culture. In both formal and informal exchanges, the program’s outreach included a broad range of interests and topics, thanks to Cultural Affairs Specialist Winston Pugh’s superb knowledge of and connections with community groups in Rangoon.
After researching the Showcase films, Winston matched the topics addressed in specific documentaries with groups that shared those interests. The complementary fit of the films selected for the Burma/Myanmar delegation made for a broad outreach and, most of the time, an invested and engaged audience. It made this delegation particularly fruitful and exciting for all involved. Most of the time, Carl, Diane and I introduced the films as a tag team. Because some screenings overlapped, we would then split up.
Rangoon
On the first day of the delegation, Trouble the Water was introduced by filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin at the American Center with an audience of about 70 individuals from teenagers to adults, men and women. This was a perfect kick-off event, since Carl and Tia explained in detail and with great enthusiasm the salient points of the film as well as background details. Some audience members knew about Hurricane Katrina, some did not. But all knew about Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma/Myanmar on May 2, 2008. An estimated 130,000 people died as a result of the flooding and the government’s subsequent lack of aid to its own population, coupled with its refusal to allow international groups to reach the disaster’s victims. Tia discussed man-made disasters that compound natural disasters. The parallels were not lost on the audience. This led to some probing questions and comments about government responsibility or irresponsibility, and the aid individuals offer each other in times of need. Some Burmese expressed surprise that the US government had not done more to aid Katrina victims.
There was little audience participation in the group discussion after the screening, but after the Q&A, many in the audience approached us individually with questions. After this screening, Tia and Carl met with two aspiring filmmakers with whom they continue to correspond.
I made the introduction to Whiz Kids to 30 students at SMART Resources. Though this was a holiday, the students came for this screening and responded positively to the content, especially to the fact that the three “whiz kids” in the film—Ana, Harmain, and Kelydra—did not win the top prizes, as the audience members expected. We talked in particular about trying repeatedly for something that matters, handling setbacks and maturing through the process. The class’ teacher said he really appreciated this point and others that Whiz Kids made, including promoting the value of education and the importance of family support. Many young men and women stayed around after the screening, eager to talk further. This was a really feel-good session.
Cultural Affairs Specialist Winston Pugh (back to camera), Assistant Public Affairs Officer Drake Weisert (with microphone), and Film Specialist Diane Carson (seated), at the screening of New Muslim Cool, Traders Hotel, Rangoon, Burma, with members from the Muslim community
The following day, Body and Soul was presented to the Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association. For me, this was one of the highlights of the delegation. Because audience members have their own disabilities, they responded emotionally in a deeply moving way to Kathy and Diana’s relationship and struggles depicted in the film. The discussion included Burmese facilities and support, comparing and contrasting them to the US services and problems and the involvement in the community of handicapped men and women.
The physically handicapped group also showed us a short film they had made about perspective on disability, a kind of narrative lesson. Then a handful of them performed a play for us. I think this particular event was perhaps the most meaningful and important of all that we presented. We learned that few services support the handicapped, and our discussion of opportunities and challenges in the US handicapped community made an impact. We also applauded one of the men who was heading to the US the following week to compete in the wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon for the fourth time.
How to Fold a Flag was presented at the American Center to about 20 students and members. The Center is open to anyone who wants to join, so we had more people wandering in and out of screenings there, sampling the film for a while in some instances. Because of this, there was not a lot of discussion after most of the films at the American Center though the films must have appealed to the members because we saw many of the same men and women at several screenings.
I introduced Burning the Future: Coal in America, and Carl and Tia joined for the discussion, at REAM. Some members have engineering degrees, some teach and all study environmental issues. Therefore, the discussion of Coal reflected a sophisticated level of insight and comprehension of the environmental challenges and solutions critically needed. After the formal screening, we had a Q&A session and then spent an extra hour discussing issues with the audience. The high-level analysis proved stimulating, a credit to the documentary and to this audience. We touched on the environmental impact of using coal for 51 percent of our energy, as well as the devastating impact on the community members depicted in the film. REAM members noted parallels to challenges in Burma/Myanmar.
The three of us presented Freeway Philharmonic the next day at the Gitameit Music School, with 70 to 80 students and faculty in attendance. After a song from members of the Physically Handicapped Association, all of whom we met yesterday at Body and Soul, we screened a film perfect for this group. Gitameit is a private music school for students of all ages, and so they responded positively to Freeway Philharmonic. They clearly all loved the many music segments. We had a good discussion after the film, followed by a tour of the school and one-on-one talks with teachers and students. This school is a labor of love for all involved, and their commitment to music education was inspirational.
Racing Dreams was introduced by myself to about 30 American Center members, many of whom had been at earlier screenings. The film didn’t appeal to many in the audience, and we lost the majority of the viewers during the film, so we had almost no discussion afterwards. It would seem this film would appeal to an audience of young Burmese with its focus on three young Americans and their involvement in racing competition, in addition to some of the troubled family dynamics. Perhaps the audience on hand had difficulty grasping our NASCAR competitions or, because they looked a bit older than the ideal target group, perhaps they didn’t identify. At any rate, the few who stayed enjoyed the film.
There was also a screening of documentaries produced at the American Center in the four-week workshop conducted by Anayansi Prado and Lyn Goldfarb in the month before we arrived. Approximately 15 to 20 attended this presentation and roundtable discussion, which grew out of the American Documentary Showcase in Burma last year, and the students were excited by their opportunity to learn documentary skills. Their success showed in the four films, which showed a solid grasp of nonfiction storytelling, particularly of editing and pacing. Each group focused on one or a few individuals and captured local flavor with precise details that only those who live here can appreciate. Carl and Tia were very helpful in answering technical questions and offering encouragement for a documentary filmmaking career.
On the following day, Tia and Carl screened Soundtrack for a Revolution, and led the discussion afterward, at the American Center. Again many of the same Center members attended as were at earlier American Center screenings. I also introduced New Muslim Cool at the Traders Hotel, which was followed by a lively discussion. A group of about 70-80 Muslim community members, teachers and American Center students attended. The discussion involved many members of the audience, who described their experiences and commented on the events they saw in the film.
During a reception afterward, several teachers and Muslim members expressed their appreciation for this film and our presentation. This was a valuable outreach experience. Most viewers said they knew little about the American Muslim community and, therefore, learned a lot. They were impressed at the positive change in the central character’s life and surprised at the problems with surveillance.
New Muslim Cool screening, Traders Hotel, Rangoon, Burma
The films King Corn and Big River were presented by the three of us at the International Business Center. The event was organized and sponsored by the Food Security Working Group, a network of NGOs that gather weekly to discuss and support food security in Burma/Myanmar. Despite a cyclone that hit in central Burma a couple of days prior, approximately 25 people attended the screening. During the Q&A, the audience responded with insightful questions and comments on both of these documentaries and made connections between the issues explored in the films with the issues they face in Burma/Myanmar.
The next day, we presented No Subtitles Necessary at the Yangon Film Services to about 10 students and five teachers at the Film Services facility. Before the screening, we watched a 25-minute documentary film on a Burmese boxer made by one of the students in attendance. With very good cinematography and editing, the film highlighted the talent of this director, and we discussed his accomplishment with him. We then watched No Subtitles, followed by analysis and comments on it. The discussion was limited due to the audience’s limited English language proficiency and the lack of this audience’s exposure to the independent films featured in the film.
The Film Services faculty members encourage and support their talented students in an exemplary way. We witnessed their commitment to making good films on Burmese culture, an important endeavor that receives no financial state support since it is technically not a school. Yangon Film Services receives most of its funds from international donors. This was a friendly, fun gathering of like-minded people who love and appreciate what film can do.
Which Way Home was presented at the American Center. Because we stayed so long at the Yangon Film Services facility and had a screening an hour after Which Way Home, we proceeded directly to our next screening. Since so many of the same individuals attended screenings at the American Center, we knew the screening would proceed just fine without us in this instance.
The three of us then screened A Village Called Versailles at the Business Capacity Building Center for approximately 20 to 25 students majoring in economics, management and English––and their teachers. This organization offers business training, such as computer workshops and employment counseling, for young people. Again we had such a good discussion that we went over our allotted time as we listened to audience members describing their experience with Cyclone Nargis. We discussed the responsibility and involvement of the government in such events. Many of the attendees had volunteered in the aftermath of Nargis, so the theme of community helping community, and individuals helping each other, resonated with them. We also talked about the ways the New Orleans mayor’s office responded to the Vietnamese-American community’s protests over the landfill opened adjacent to their neighborhood.
Conclusion
Our delegation was exceptional for its outreach to so many different audiences with 14 different films. We reached an extensive cross-section of the Yangon population from film, English and music study students to physically handicapped individuals, from members of the Muslim and business communities to environmentally committed men and women. With this extensive an outreach for the American Documentary Showcase selections, I believe the impact will be felt in ripples transmitted through the numerous groups.
At its best, education is always a two-way street, and without question we all learned a lot from each other in very constructive, productive exchanges. In several instances, the audience members hesitated at first to ask questions and offer opinions, but most of the time our open-ended questions invited their commentary and we elicited many insightful responses. The Burma delegation feels that the impact of the American Documentary Showcase will continue for months to come, just as last year’s delegation led to a four-week documentary seminar and four student-made films. It’s difficult to measure the exact outcome, but the comments to us by those who attended the programs were universally positive and encouraging for the continuation of such activities.
Our frankness and analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the American culture was particularly eye opening for the Burmese people given the restrictions, censorship and repressive military dictatorship under which they live every day.
And last but certainly not least, our Cultural Affairs Specialist Winston Pugh’s translation helped our communication enormously. He proved quite tireless in his involvement before, during and after screenings, and we’re deeply grateful to him for his help at every turn.
Observations
1. This outreach will pay dividends for the future and contributes in important ways to introducing ideas for us and for the Burmese to consider.
2. Having subtitles helps enormously in comprehension, even for those who speak some or good English. Following the details in those films with a lot of talking among people is difficult for non-native speakers. Winston helped enormously with many audiences who needed translation, giving quick synopsis at strategic points in the films.
3. Filmmakers should bring at least English-subtitled copies if the DVDs can’t be subtitled in the country’s language. Since Trouble the Water was the only film subtitled in Burmese, comprehension of the other dozen films screened was limited, as was the discussion afterward. The Showcase should consider distributing at least an English-language subtitled version of the documentaries to the American Center libraries, especially if they screen these films to a large audience.
4. Follow-up activities are very welcome and important. One unique outreach is that public health advocate and Burmese native Cynthie Tin Oo, who works with Burmese refuges in Atlanta, will now use Carl and Tia’s Trouble the Water. There has been friction and violent clashes between the African-American and the Burmese-American communities. With Trouble the Water now available in a DVD subtitled in Burmese, Cynthie is going to use this film to help bridge the divide through several screenings. This is an unexpected, unusual bonus for the film. Carl and Tia had dinner with Cynthie while in Burma when this idea arose. In Burma, Cynthie works with civil society groups helping them build their HIV programs in Burma.
We would like to explore a similar outreach possibility with the Vietnamese subtitled version of Trouble the Water on the Gulf Coast or in Southern California.
All of the documentaries are available at the American Center, something each group greeted with pleasure. Each will be available in its own case with study guides for future use. Carl and Tia made available an English-subtitled version as well.
See Diane Carson's photos on Flickr
Health Digest article, Nov 10, 1010
Two documentaries that shed light on the problems of health
Health Digest, Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Two documentaries initiated by the Food Security Working Group (FSWG) were shown at the International Business Center (IBC) situated on Pyay Road on the evening of October 28, 2010. The two documentaries titled 'King Corn’ and ‘Big River’ were borrowed from the American Center.
King Corn featured a documentary about two friends, one acre of corn and the subsidized crop that drives American fast-food nation. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds and powerful herbicides, they were able to grow a bumper crop of America’s most productive grain but finally came to realize the impact of their pile of corn flowing into the food system, cheap corn syrup used in many ready-made foods that have little nutritional value and in sodas, causing obesity and diabetes all over the world.
Big River can be said to be a follow up of King Corn to investigate the environmental impact their acre of corn has sent to the people and places downstream. On their trip downstream, flashbacks to the pesticides they sprayed, the fertilizers they injected and the soil they plowed they now learned how this has caused top soil erosion into streams, rivers, ponds and finally the Gulf of Mexico which in turn caused many fish to die. The overuse of herbicides is blamed for a surge in Hochkin Lymphoma cancer cases. It also documents the environmental impact of high-yield farming.
The running time for King Corn was 50 minutes and it was learnt that it won three Awards. Big River had a running time of 27 minutes.
What was significant that day was the presence of American documentary film makers, directors, producers and co-producers who were available for a question and answer session with the audience at the end of the show.
Reported by: Maung