Full Frame Review: Burma VJ

I'll admit that I originally intended to see another movie on Saturday morning, but it was sold out. So, I decided to take a gamble and see Burma VJ. "It is good," one of the Full Frame ushers assured me. I had no idea what was in store for me.

Burma VJ is a graphic and chilling story of a suppressed nation's struggle against?a militant government and the efforts of heroic cameramen known as the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) whose efforts expose exactly what goes on inside the country. These cameramen shoot with small handycams concealed under their arms and capture brief glimpses of the country, its people and daily life. Nonetheless, ?it is hard to imagine a nation where secret police arrest anyone holding a camera.?Joshua, a DVB cameraman himself, narrates the story that starts with his personal account of being forced to leave Burma and flee to Taiwan after police arrested and interrogated him. From Taiwan, Jonathan worked as a?"fixer" and?coordinated DVB coverage in Burma.

The DVB had over thirty cameramen around the country that would shoot with handycams?concealed?under their arms or in backpacks. The cameramen were constantly on the run as secret police targeted them and the shot "silently for 19 years" until the national mood began to change one week in September of 2007. As oil prices rose in 2007, civil unrest built and people began to retaliate against the government. DVB cameramen documented the movement and were responsible for a vast majority of the images that were?syndicated?to national news organizations such as CNN and BBC. Burma VJ stitches together actual footage shot by DVB cameramen and?reenactments?of Joshua coordinating their efforts from Taiwan.?

Burma VJ is a thriller and is sure to continue to gain international attention and rightfully so.?Without the work of DVB, many of these stories would have gone untold.

Burma VJ?won three awards at Full Frame this year, including the grand jury award for documentary feature.