2012 Amnesty International Taiwan Spotlight on Burma : Dignity and Fortitude Behind the Iron Curtain
“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
- Aung San Suu Kyi
Through a military coup in 1962, Burma was thrust into a brutal dictatorship regime. Just years later in 1988, a student movement was crushed by the junta, ending 3,000 young lives. In 1991, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi was still under house arrest after 16 years. In 2007 the world re-focus on Burma, this airtime paid for by the spilt blood of monks during the Saffron Revolution.
No work of fiction could come as close to striking a chord within us as the stories recounted by those who experienced it first hand, their tales featured in this series of documentaries constituting human rights violations, land grabs, foreign and domestic government and corporatist corruption, genocide, and environmental abuse. On the cusp of Burma’s by-election on April 1, Taiwan has not forgotten - we turn the spotlight again on Burma to understand her peoples’ dignity and unwavering fortitude under the brute force of oppression.
Join us and take meaningful action with Amnesty International as we write letters of solidarity for Burma. At the conclusion of each evening screening special guest speakers at the forefront of activism (might need a bit of Hanyu listening skills) will lead discussion panels and deepen our knowledge on human rights. Let us armed ourselves with this knowledge and guide ourselves towards a better future for all!
Free Admission.
Attendees will receive a voucher for Luc Besson’s “The Lady” starring Michelle Yeoh that gives the matinee instead of evening movie cost (rate pends on your choice of cinema).
NOTE: Please take notice of location and dates and check back for updates.
3/19 (Mon) @ Insomnia Cafe
17:00 Total Denial
19:30 Burma’s Secret War
Guest Speaker: Sun Yu-lien (Taiwan Labor Front General Secretary)
3/20 (Tue) @ Insomnia Cafe
17:00 This Prison Where I Live
19:30 Total Denial
Guest Speaker: Thomas S.K Chan (Lawyer, Activist)
3/21 (Wed) @ Insomnia Cafe
17:00 Burma’s Secret War
19:30 Burma VJ
Guest Speaker: Cheryl Lai (Former CNA Chief Editor)
3/22 (Thu) @ Cafe Philo
17:00 Total Denial
19:30 Burma’s Secret War
Guest Speaker: Yang Yung-chu & Sam Lai (Burmese Activists)
3/23 (Fri) @ Cafe Philo
17:00 Burma VJ
19:30 This Prison Where I Live
Guest Speaker: Neil Peng (Writer)
3/24 (Sat) @ Cafe Philo
A.I Choice Surprise Screening followed by Panel Discussion
MORE INFO!!
Burma’s Secret War: youtu.be/xyrcZkHK4aE
For most of the past 16 years the truly elected leader of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been held under house arrest by a brutal military dictatorship that suppresses all opposition through a policy of rape, forced labour and systematic killings. This is a country unique in failing all five crucial tests by which the UN measures human rights, yet until now the world has all but ignored. Finally, the UN Security Council is beginning to debate how to deal with this renegade nation, in which Britain is the second biggest investor. Journalist Evan Williams goes undercover for Dispatches deep inside Burma on a highly dangerous journey, documenting atrocities committed against the Karen people, and follows up by illegally entering Burma again - this time as a tourist.
Total Denial: youtu.be/2Xb4eZZwKGE
Total Denial is the story of a historic lawsuit: Fifteen villagers from the jungles of Burma bringing suit against a giant oil corporation for human-rights abuses, in U.S. courts. After ten years of fiercelegal battles, the impossible victory.
In 1992, two Western oil companies - French TOTAL and UNOCAL, then based in California embark on a joint venture with the Burmese military regime, to build a gas pipeline. The Burmesearmy, hired by the companies to provide security for the project, forces many in the local
population into slave labor. Burned villages, raped women, tortured and killed porters, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children hiding in the jungle is the picture of a silent genocide. Total Denial has been awarded the Special Human Rights Award by former President Vaclav Havel at the One World Festival in Prague (March 2006).
Burma VJ: youtu.be/V08EBWQLzyU
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.
Amidst marching monks, brutal police agents, and shooting military the reporters embark on their dangerous mission, working around the clock to keep the world informed of events inside the closed country. Their compulsive instinct to shoot what they witness, rather than any
deliberate heroism, turns their lives into that of freedom fighters.
This Prison Where I Live: youtu.be/s59KpLA0dvU
Maung Thura, better known as Zarganar, is Burma’s greatest living comic. Relentlessly victimised by the Burmese military junta, he is now in prison. Zarganar has been jailed on a series of trumped up charges for his outspoken criticism of the government after leading a
private relief effort to deliver aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis, and for trying to alert the world’s media to the junta’s criminal failure to respond to a human catastrophe. He was condemned by
Burma’s generals to 59 years behind bars, now reduced to 35 years.
Prison Where I Live is a feature documentary and is the story of German comedian’s Michael Mittermeier’s exploration into the personality, the motivation and the talent of the man who describes himself as the ‘loudspeaker’ for his people
Insomnia Café No. 8, Lane 60, TaiShun Street near Taipower MRT Station Exit 3 TEL : 02 23640002 http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=wSz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1429&bih=659&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=insomnia+cafe+taipei&fb=1&hq=insomnia+cafe&hnear=0x3442ac6b61dbbd9d:0xc0c243da98cba64b,Taipei+City,+Taiwan&cid=0,0,1399333402501967895&ei=me5ZT-fdI82imQXwipG0Dw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&ved=0CAoQ_BI
Café Philo No. 3 ShaoXing North Road near Shandao Temple MRT Station Exit 6 TEL : 02 33221096 http://maps.google.com.tw/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=zh-TW&geocode&q=%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82%E4%B8%AD%E6%AD%A3%E5%8D%80%E7%B4%B9%E8%88%88%E5%8C%97%E8%A1%973%E8%99%9F&sll=25.044731,121.525245&sspn=0.007387,0.010471&vpsrc=6&ie=UTF8&hq&hnear=100%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82%E4%B8%AD%E6%AD%A3%E5%8D%80%E7%B4%B9%E8%88%88%E5%8C%97%E8%A1%973%E8%99%9F&t=m&brcurrent=3,0x3442a99bd1adbcc7:0xc5ab69bb7491162a,0,0x3442ac6b61dbbd9d:0xc0c243da98cba64b&view=map
Join in the event on FB: facebook.com/events/336846016367617/