294th Meeting – Tuesday,
October 2nd
2007
"Prayer
of Peace: Relief & Resistance in Burma's
War
Zones"
A talk and film
presentation by Matt Blauer and Saw
Doh Say, a Free Burma
Rangers
relief team member
Present: Ronny Lavin, Peter
Thomson, Peter
Gore-Symes,
Marie Burrows, Bob Vryheid, Jiruttigan Sinlapasunan, Lindy
Santitharangkul, Tom
Wilkinson, Tina Noga Bjerno, Kay Braithwaite, Jack Eisner, Alex
Brodard, Andrew
Adam, Rich & Sylvia Gorsuch, Dara Samuelson, Glynn Morgan, Ray
Brubacher,
Allan Eubank, Michael Tuckson, Marlin Weber, Crist Yoder, Som
Supaparinya,
Bodil Blokker, Mael Raynaud, Mike Long, Somchar Santitharangkul, Guy
Cardinal,
Satawat Williary, Georg Mueller, Chris Lowenstein, Jeff Moynihan,
Annette
Kunigagon, Paula Meyer, Susan L. Tipton, Nicholas E. Osmanski, Kevin
Woods,
Chris Cusano, Nathan Koch, Kyle Christensen, Jay Robin, Vincent
Lewmiler, Benet
Copeland, Noi Copeland, Trasvin Jittidecharak, Carol Grodzins, Ken
Kampe, Mike
Williams, George Boffet, Susan Offner, Winnie Tan, Ben Strobridge,
Amihan
Jones, Lauren Merriman, Sonya Kalnin, David Steane, Sachiko Yasuda,
Elizabeth
Kalnin, Anoy Collins, Ken Dyer, Timmi Tillman, Marusa Casas, Roger
Casas,
Thomas Ohlson, Michael Berbae, Beryl McKeown, Jonathon McKeown, Tawee
Donchai,
Richard Nelson-Jones, Dorothy Engmann, Nang Saeng Moung Lee, Victoria
Vorreiter, Kalyn Hale, Harmony Galford, Terry Gamble, Sarah Adam,
Tadayuki
Kubo, Sara Emilsson, Faith Cougill, Drew Solyst, John Heller, Hay Mar
Soe, Andi
Scher, Becky Chrisman. An audience of more than 85.
"Prayer of Peace: Relief &
Resistance in Burma's
War Zones" is a 28-minute
documentary film about relief
workers caring for their people amid a human rights crisis in Karen State,
Eastern Burma.
A summary of the presentation
On the front line of
conflict deep inside Burma
“Prayer of Peace” follows ethnic relief workers as they aid
internally
displaced people suffering under the Burma Army. Focusing
on a female medic and a pastor/human
rights cameraman, the film reveals a people that have maintained their
dignity
and hope for peace despite the odds. This documentary was filmed over
three
months on the frontline in Karen State
on relief missions
with the Free Burma Rangers.
"Since
I was a child I have never known peace. We've always had to run from
the Burma
soldiers.
When my family was sick there was no medicine. We would look for help
but there
was none. Because of this my parents died in the jungle. So I decided
to be a
nurse." – Day Htoo – FBR Nurse
"I started this work
in 1998.
At that time I saw the Burma Army soldiers come and the villagers had
to flee
into the jungle. As they fled I took photos with a still camera. When
people
looked at the pictures I tried to explain but I couldn't explain very
well. I
wanted the pictures to open their hearts to the situation. I thought to
myself
if I had a video camera it would be better, to have the villagers speak
for
themselves." – Saw Monkey - FBR Pastor/Cameraman
"If all the Karen
leave the
Burmese will be happy. For this reason I will not leave. God put me
here. I was
born here so I will stay here. And I will die here. This is my
decision."
– Saw Maung Hla Htoo – Villager elder
The
filmmaker and Saw Doh Say, a Free Burma Rangers relief team member,
answered
questions relating to the film and its subject.
Matt
Blauer is a filmmaker focusing on human rights in Southeast
Asia. His work has been screened in remote villages, at
film
festivals, before U.S. Congress, the UN, and on news and television
worldwide.
His films aim to give greater voice to those suffering and those
working on
behalf of others.
Saw Doh
Say fled urban Burma
in 1988 after the student uprising and subsequent military crackdown
that left
thousands dead. He joined the Karenni resistance and was severely
wounded while
fighting against the Burma Army. He later joined the Free Burma Rangers
as a
way to help his people and work for positive change in Burma.
The Free
Burma Rangers are a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement. Free
Burma
Rangers relief teams travel into Burma's war zones to
provide
emergency medical care, shelter, food, clothing and human rights
documentation.
The teams also operate a communication and information network inside Burma
that
provides real time information from areas under attack. Together with
other
groups, the teams work to serve people in need.
Brief
Burma
background:
Burma is one of the least developed
and worst managed countries in the world. The current regime rules the
country
with fear and suppression. In the cities they jail the opposition, in
the
ethnic areas they burn their homes and kill them; men, women and
children.
Since independence from Britain
in 1948 the country has been at war with itself, particularly between
the
Burman governments and ethnic separatists who seek equality and
self-determination.
The ethnic villagers have been suffering ongoing violent oppression for
over
half a century and the recent violent crackdown on peaceful protests in
Rangoon
and elsewhere
remind us the cities are not free from oppression either.
Background
on the film making process by the filmmaker:
I shot
“Prayer of Peace” over three months inside Karen State
in 2006. But it really began in 2003 when the Free Burma Rangers
approached me
to help them put together a short film about the situation inside Burma
and their
part in it. From that time I have helped make a half dozen other films
with the
Free Burma
Rangers. However, in this film I wanted to focus on characters within
the
situation and felt that if I was going to do this I would need to shoot
it
myself. At first I was reluctant because of the dangers of being in the
war
zones, especially the idea of stepping on land mines. But after a few
years I
came to care more and more and became better friends with the Free
Burma
Rangers, especially Monkey, who became the focus of this film. I
decided that
if I really wanted to help I was going to have to take the risk and
make the
effort needed to capture what’s happening in the jungle hidden
away from the
world.
I spent
two six-week trips with the Free Burma Rangers as they conducted relief
missions in Karen
State. I shot
without
trying to control any of the situations I was in. I never asked anyone
to do
anything for the camera, except interviews. I tried to keep my camera
out of
mind of everyone I filmed. I did this by being present; I interacted
with
subjects as much as possible and considered my work second. I came
first to
stand with them as a friend, not observer. I believe in their cause and
while I
didn’t exaggerate any aspect of the oppression of the Burma Army
atrocities,
you can certainly say I am sympathetic to the Karen. I was not
objective in the
process, but I believe I was truthful. I did research and painstaking
translation to make sure I understood what people really meant and that
I
presented an honest story to the best of my ability.
After
three months inside and over thirty hours of footage I started to edit
without
knowing exactly where the film would end up. The film is entirely
chronological
except for the three interviews, meaning that what happens in the film
follows
exactly how it happened on the trips I went on. Except that I cut in
Day
Htoo’s, Monkey’s and Saw Maung Hla Htoo’s interviews
in different places for
deeper understanding. I cut the film chronologically because I felt it
would be
more truthful. I wanted the film to be more than entertainment or
propaganda.
And while compressed and crafted, I tried to approach it as honestly as
I
could, and I felt that chronology was key in this. I cut the film first
to
about one hour and then started working on the script. After I had a
rough
draft of the script, I had it translated into Karen language. For
people to
experience Karen
State, I felt it
should be in Karen,
sight and sound. I wanted authenticity. Nothing I wrote in the script
came only
from me, it is what I learned from the Karen, their faces, heart, land,
and
also from the Free Burma Rangers. After translation by Pi Boo and
others, I
asked Monkey to rework the script into his own words, as he would say
and feel
it himself. This process took more time and discussion than one can
imagine,
but in the end I was pleased and felt like I didn’t write it at
all. The three
main interviews of Day Htoo, Monkey and Saw Maung Hla Htoo, each came
from
one-hour interviews done inside Karen State
- all three
locations had been attacked or were to be attacked within weeks.
The
shooting took place over three months and covered hundreds of miles on
foot in Karen
State,
the editing took six months, but really it took several years to make
the film.
And it’s only 28 minutes long! I feel deeply grateful to the
Karen for their
hospitality and willingness to allow me to tell their story. It was a
great
honor to be in their homeland and I truly hope and pray for their
freedom. I
also am greatly indebted to the Free Burma Rangers for allowing me to
work so
closely with them. I wish to thank everyone who helped in making this
film.
For more information
please
contact: Matt Blauer – Filmmaker – Tel. 081-866-1720
E-mail [email protected] Website www.frontfilms.com
Silkworm
Books is distributing “Prayer of Peace” on DVD in Thailand.
DVDs are available in
Asia Books and Bookazine outlets and Suriwong Bookstore. And on the
filmmakers
website at www.frontfilms.com
After the question and answer session, the meeting
adjourned
to the Alliance Cafeteria where members of
the audience engaged Matt and Saw
Doh Say in more informal
conversation over drinks and snacks.