Sometimes stories come to you. I was fortunate enough last year to be invited by my teacher, who is Burmese, to go to Myanmar (Burma) to document the transition from a strictly military government to a more democratic state through the voices of the people who are living it. I was able to interview some key people in that transition and was blown away by their stories.
Some of those I interviewed where jailed on and off as political prisoners for 25 years. These were members of the so called 88 Generation and were students during the height of the military takeover of the country in 1987. One member, Paw Oo Tun (better know as Min Ko Naing), a leading democracy activist and dissident who has spent most of the years since 1988 imprisoned by the state for his opposition activities, was only released in late 2012. I also interviewed some who are trying to change the country through social and political means.
Through this documentary I want to have their voices, as well as those that had to flee their country, be heard. These emotional, compelling stories moved and inspired me and need to be told.