Burma VJ

One of the true joys of living here in Columbia is the annual True/False Film Festival, a four-day event that brings in some great independently made documentary films. It’s a real treat to have in a place like this and draws people from all over, and the 2009 edition has been no exception.

I saw four very good films today, but the one that hit me the most was Burma VJ. Directed by Anders Østergaard, the film is the story of how a bunch of citizen reporters documented the Saffron Revolution in Burma for the outside world back in 2007 (background) using nothing more than digital video cameras and a network of delivery that could get around the oppressive military regime’s measures against dissent.

The film is unique. Rather than using documentary footage shot by Østergaard and his crew, it strings together actual video shot by the VJs (video journalists) during the time of the conflict. It uses the narrative supplied by “Joshua,” who was the leader of the network, talking about how he was responsible for getting their footage out to sources such as CNN and BBC to raise awareness around the world.

The footage was raw and grisly at times. This is not journalism done with high-powered tools or j-school training. It is a network of citizens with a story to tell and a sense that something needs to be exposed. If they were Americans, we’d call these Burmese citizen journalists muckrakers.

Two things stood out for me as I watched and at times got a little misty-eyed.

First, the cost of doing great journalism was in focus. Here in the U.S. we’re wringing our hands over the monetary costs as we watch journalistic institutions crumble before our eyes. In Burma, the monetary costs are limited to a digital camera, a computer, and maybe a bribe to smuggle data out of the country. But the human cost one of these Burmese citizen reporters bears for shining the light in dark places is something we cannot fathom here in the States. Several of these citizen journalists were beaten and in some cases were killed to gather the information and tell the world the Burma story.

Still, the type of guerrilla journalism done by these reporters is much more suited for the political terrain in a country such as Burma, where there is no First Amendment and the concept of an independent press that acts as a check on government is unfathomable. It offers a partially hopeful and partially depressing answer to the question of what happens if we were to lose our press watchdog here in the U.S.

The second standout point to me is the importance of finding models that combine citizen storytelling with professional storytelling. The story these VJs were trying to get out needed major news outlets like CNN and the BBC to push it beyond their own network and out into the mainstream – to make it mass media. I came away thinking that we need citizen media when there is oppression of professional media, but in the end we need both to work together.

What is most interesting is that these VJs told stories that were unable to be told by the mainstream press. As a matter of policy, Burma keeps out professional journalists that could expose the brutal nature of the ruling military’s regime. The only way to tell this story is for brave people to rise up and do it themselves. Ten or 15 years ago, this might have been impossible, but today it’s hard to imagine a world that isn’t like that thanks to affordable tech tools.

Burma VJ has lit up a couple film festivals already, and if it hits a theater near you I’d highly recommend it.

Related posts:

1. It takes a journalist