A fusion of beauty and terror, observation and anger, roving visuals and intimate stories – funny, contemplative or horrific – this experimental film provides a subjective, layered depiction of Burma (Myanmar) under brutal military dictatorship. Offering a living history of a country arrested in time, this hybrid documentary focuses on ethnic genocide, but with constant poetic resonance and a rich multiplicity of references to history and popular culture. Colonial archives and clips from YouTube are interposed within this tapestry of fragments, often in ironic counterpoint, and always to pierce the chokehold of censorship. The filmmaker made two filming trips to Burma – one posing as a tour guide and the second under-cover with ethnic Karen guerrillas, to film internal exiles surviving a free-fire jungle war zone. Directed and produced by Holly Fisher.

Deafening Silence

2012 US 90 min
Festival Year: 2012
Types:
Topic: Global Perspectives, Sustainable Living