Burma VJ

The co-operative presents A Film By ANDERS ØSTERGAARD

Armed with video-cameras a tenacious band of Burmese reporters face down death to expose the repressive regime controlling their country

TAKE ACTION: Sign the petitionto free the Burma VJ prisoners

Monthly Archive for June, 2009

Ban Ki Moon to visit to Burma

Published
by
Burma VJ
on June 30, 2009
in Latest news on Burma
. 2 Comments

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The Burma Campaign UK today welcomed news that UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is finally going to visit Burma again, but called for concrete results, not just more talks about talks. Ban Ki Moon is expected to visit Burma on the 3rd and 4th of July.

“We have had 20 years of UN envoys going back and forth to Burma and nothing to show for it,” said Zoya Phan, International Coordinator of Burma Campaign UK. “We need Ban Ki Moon to personally take the lead, but he must deliver practical results, such as the release of all political prisoners. Talking to the generals is a means to an end, but so far the UN seems to treat talks alone as a success. Ban Ki Moon must deliver the strongest possible message to Than Shwe that they can no longer defy the Security Council.”

There have been 40 UN envoy visits to Burma, including 8 by Ibrahim Gambari, who visited over the weekend. Since Ibrahim Gambari took over as envoy in 2006 there has been a dramatic escalation in human rights abuses, a doubling of the number of political prisoners, and the regime has defied the United Nations by pushing ahead with its so called roadmap to democracy, rather than entering into tri-partite dialogue as demanded by the UN.

Click here to petition the UN Secretary-General on political prisoners.

Click here to visit the Burma Campaigns website and learn more about human right in Burma.

The Co-operative and Burma VJ

Published
by
Burma VJ
on June 30, 2009
in The coalition
. 4 Comments

Why is a business like The Co-operative putting time and effort into promoting a film on human rights in Burma?

With more outlets than Starbucks and McDonalds put together, the reach of The Co-operative is vast. But it is not size alone that makes it stand out – The Co-operative has a unique 165 year history of ethical business, including a record of campaigning on issues that are important to its members.

The Co-operative’s first human rights campaign dates back to the 1860s, when it supported the anti-slavery movement in North America. Since then, Co-operative campaigns have covered a number of human rights issues, including landmines, the arms trade and trade justice.

Burma has been a consistent focal point: over the last ten years, The Co-operative has continued to call for democracy in the country. This has included two national press campaigns, a campaign for the withdrawal from Burma of the oil giant Total, participation in the All Party Parliamentary Group on Burma, and a national roll out of The Burma Play.

This stance on Burma is reflected in business practice: in line with the call from the democratically elected representatives of the Burmese people, The Co-operative does not trade with Burma, The Co-operative Travel has delisted the country as a tourist destination, and The Co-operative Bank will not finance any organisation supporting the Burmese regime.

Burma VJ is shaping up to be the biggest project yet. The Co-operative’s support for the film forms part of an on-going ‘outreach’ strategy, using film, theatre and other media to bring ethical issues to new audiences and mobilise The Co-operative membership and the general public. A film as powerful and captivating as Burma VJ offers an unmissable opportunity.

Speaking of the continued fight for democracy in Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi has said “please use your freedom to promote ours”. This phrase goes to the heart of The Co-operative’s continued commitment to Burma: until freedom is won, The Co-operative will continue to look for different ways to help draw attention to the horror, oppression and injustice that the people of Burma endure.

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iPhone App Now Live

Published
by
Burma VJ
on June 29, 2009
in Guest bloggers and burma vj
. 2 Comments

How do you promote a serious documentary with the help of an iPhone application? Our first guest blogger, Mikael Saker, explains how the Burma VJ app came to life.

In the beginning of May, Collecting Smiles (authors of the Colors! iPhone and Nintendo DS painting application) received an email from Andy Whittaker at Dogwoof. Andy was asking for help developing a promotional iPhone app for the upcoming “Burma VJ” UK release. For us, this was a very interesting challenge which we accepted.

Our approach was to try to create an application that gave users some background and context for the film, as well as a taste of the movie itself (trailer, clips etc). We also wanted to wrap the content in a presentation that was both visually appealing and underlined the serious themes of the film. With these premises, we created a design for the application layout and its visual theme which was followed through development.

The application was ready second week of June and is now available for free download from Apple’s Appstore. We are very happy with the result and hope that the hard work put in by us, Dogwoof and The Co-operative has led to a product that will be successful in spreading the word about “Burma VJ”.

The app can be downloaded here.

Pictures from Number 10

Published
by
Burma VJ
on June 22, 2009
in burma vj
. 7 Comments

Following on from Burma VJ’s screening at Downing Street last week, take a look at some of the photos taken on the night.

All pictures courtesy of Richard Lewis, Crown copyright.

Marianna Brungs of Crisis Action, John Williams from the BBC, and Burma VJ director Anders Østergaard

Marianna Brungs of Crisis Action, John Williams from the BBC, and Burma VJ director Anders Østergaard

Ivan Lewis, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with Sarah Brown

Ivan Lewis, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with Sarah Brown

Sarah Brown intoruces and gives background to the 64 forAung San Suu Kyi campaign

Sarah Brown intoruces and gives background to the 64 forAung San Suu Kyi campaign

The guests take their seats

The guests take their seats

Burma VJ Goes to No 10

Published
by
Burma VJ
on June 18, 2009
in burma vj
. 3 Comments

Tonight a very special screening of Burma VJ will take place.

A global campaign has been growing in recent weeks - www.64forsuu.org - drawing attention to what’s happening in Burma - asking people to give messages of support for Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of her 64th Birthday on Friday 19 June.

A number of high profile people have given their support to the campaign (George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Demi Moore, Yoko Ono) alongside campaigners across the region and in the UK - led by Burma Campaign UK, Crisis Action, TUC, Amnesty International, Avaaz and many others.

One of the more prominent supporters in the UK is Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon. A preview screening of Burma VJ will take place at No 10 Downing St this evening, Thursday 18 June from 18.15 to 21.15pm

Director Anders Østergaard will be in attendance, and will take part in a short discussion following the screening.

Support Aung San Suu Kyi and support Burma VJ

The Burma VJ campaign begins…

Published
by
Burma VJ
on June 15, 2009
in The coalition and burma vj
. 1 Comment

Today we launch the Blog for Burma VJ, to give some insight and extra stories around the film and the Burma VJ campaign.

We will be also adding guest bloggers from the filmmakers, The Co-operative, Dogwoof, The Burma Campaign UK and Amnesty International. This will all culminate in a special satellite linked Saffron Premiere at cinemas nationwide on July 14th

To kick off here is an extract from the recent New York Times review, to give a taste of how strong the movie Burma VJ is:

“Burma VJ” is a rich, thought-provoking film not only because of the story it tells, which is by turns inspiring and devastatingly sad, but also because of the perspective it offers on the role that new communications technologies can play in political change. The viral videos of the Democratic Voice of Burma are like the hidden printing presses of earlier underground revolutionary movements, except that the portability of the cameras and the ease of Web and satellite-based distribution make them harder to suppress.”

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This film is brought to you by The Co-operative, working together with Dogwoof.

There are many oppressive regimes across the world; however Burma presents a combination of circumstances that makes a compelling case for action. As such, and in line with the call from democratically-elected representatives of the Burmese people, The Co-operative does not trade with Burma, The Co-operative Travel has delisted the country as a tourist destination, and The Co-operative Bank will not finance any commercial organisation with a significant presence in Burma.