Cinema du Reel - Burma Storybook
Burma Storybook is a creative documentary about a country emerging from years of dictatorship, told through Burmese poetry. The film circles around the story of the country’s most famous dissident poet alive today, as he waits for his long-lost son to return home.
Interview with Director Petr Lom and Producer Corinne van Egeraat
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
How to turn poetry into a film? This question was answered when I met Maung Aung Pwint – Myanmar’s most famous dissident poet, who had spent many years in prison for his activism. I was invited to his home, and as soon as I met him, I felt as if I had met a long lost friend. His deep penetrating gaze, his laughing eyes despite the sadness that often envelops him as an impenetrable fog. I knew immediately that I had found the main character for my film – something that usually in documentary filmmaking takes much longer, a process of trial and error, filming and watching footage, questioning my intuition, trying different things. Not this time.
Of course, we were blessed that Maung Aung Pwint opened up his heart and his household to us unconditionally, allowing us to film whenever and whatever we wished. Because of this we were able to film the heartrending intimate reunion of his family with his son that he had not seen for almost twenty years.
One of the first things Maung Aung Pwint told me was “let’s make a long poem together.” This was his invitation to me as a filmmaker. And a challenge.
We have tried to do honor to his request by making a film that itself in structure and form is like a poem – a film that is as beautiful as the words to which it is dedicated.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
This is the biggest and most beautiful film ever made about Burma/Myanmar. If you are interested in the country, you will love it.
If you are interested in questions about freedom of speech, and particularly the fragility of freedom of speech, then watch our film - it is a prescient warning and wake up call about the importance of these values.
And finally, it is a universal story: the old poet and main character, Maung Aung Pwint and his wife are extraordinary human beings, you will fall in love with them.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
We balance both. The film is on one level the story of an old dissident poet - the most famous dissident poet in Burma, waiting for the return of his son from exile - who he has not seen for twenty years. It also tells the more general story about the widespread presence of poetry in Burma - and even more generally, a story about how to deal with many many years of suffering through poetry.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
A lot, naturally. We work in cinema verite, so things have to evolve with what you find. But there is also a rigorous script writing process in the Netherlands in applying to the filmfund, so the script is also - perhaps surprisingly as it is verite - very much in keeping with what we originally wrote.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Fantastic. The film is becoming a best-of-fests-film on the international documentary circuit now, with many many festivals screening the film around the world.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We are gratified that so many people are connecting with the film. The most surprising thing that has happened so far, is that someone watched the film in Maastricht, in the Netherlands - it is screening in twelve cities in the Netherlands now - and offered to pay for the main character's son - who lives in Finland - and who is in the film - to return home so he can watch the film together with his parents - the main characters of the film - for the first time together. So we are traveling with him back to Burma at the beginning of April to screen the film together in Burma. It will be an absolutely extraordinary event.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We are launching a very ambitious outreach project together with the film now. We feel the film can make an enormous contribution in Burma. Burma is a traumatized country: it is only now emerging from more than sixty years of dictatorship. And conversations or debate about how to heal from this suffering - how to address historical injustice, or reconciliation - are still brand new, and more often still taboo. We think the film can begin this conversation, and offer a way to begin to heal from suffering of the past. And particularly so, since the story telling is done through Burmese poetry and poets - and poetry is the most important and widespread artform in Burma, where almost everyone is a poet - or at least an amateur poet.
Our goal is to show the film to more than two million people in Burma throughout the country through a free mobile cinema tour. We will begin a crowdfunding campaign in early summer - end of May/early June - for the outreach campaign which will start in the fall. If you donate one euro, then you will enable one person in Burma to see our film for free.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We are only interested in crowdfunding now. And any publicity we can get about our outreach plans in Burma. The film is doing great on the film festival circuit already.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Enormous. We can make a tremendous difference in Burma/Myanar with our film!
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Towards the beginning of the film, one of the poets says, "how can our hearts possibly be healed?" That is the key question of the film - how can a country emerge from dictatorship, how can people heal from sixty years of suffering.
Interview: March 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Burma Storybook
Burma Storybook is a creative documentary about a country emerging from years of dictatorship, told through Burmese poetry. The film circles around the story of the country’s most famous dissident poet alive today, as he waits for his long-lost son to return home.
Length: 81 min
Director: Petr Lom
Producer: Corinne van Egeraat
Writer: Corinne van Egeraat
About the writer, director and producer:
Petr Lom:
Petr Lom was born in Prague in 1968, grew up in Canada, and is now based in The Netherlands with his Dutch wife Corinne van Egeraat. He received his Ph.D. in political philosophy from Harvard and was Associate Professor at George Soros’ Central European University in human rights and philosophy. In 2003, he became an independent documentary director and producer specializing in human rights film. His award-winning films have been broadcast in over thirty countries and screened at more than two hundred and fifty film festivals around the world including Sundance, Berlinale, Locarno, Rotterdam and IDFA. His filmography: Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan (2004); On a Tightrope (2007), Letters to the President (2009); Back to the Square (2012), ANA ANA (“I am me” in Arabic - 2013), and Burma Storybook (2017).
Corinne van Egeraat:
Corinne van Egeraat (1966), Netherlands. An independent filmmaker and creative producer with a background in theatre, she specializes in projects on creative freedom of expression. In 2011-12 she produced the Self-Portrait Video Project, a year-long workshop on autobiographical storytelling with young Egyptian artists, coaching them to make short films, one of which went on to the 2012 Berlinale. This project culminated with the collaborative feature documentary ANA ANA (“I am me” in Arabic) that was nominated for best film at IDFA 2014 and released in the cinemas in the Netherlands. In 2015-2016 she produced Framing the Transition, a human rights photography essay project with twelve young Burmese photographers. She is the producer of the feature documentary Burma Storybook (2017). She is now planning an ambitious outreach project to accompany Burma Storybook that will consist of a free mobile cinema tour in Myanmar intending to reach an audience of two million people. Finally, she is also producing a photography and poetry book to accompany the film, with photography by Dana Lixenberg, one of the most famous photographers in the Netherlands. A Burmese language pocket edition of the book will be distributed for free in Burma with the free cinema tour.
She was selected Netherlands filmmaker of the year in 2004. Her filmography, all of which has been broadcast in the Netherlands, is: Lord of the Jungle (2000), Cowboys in Kosovo (2004), Speeding on the Virtual Highway ( 2007), Bridging the Gap (2008), Dislocated (2009), ANA ANA (“I am me” in Arabic - 2013), and Burma Storybook (2017).
Made in association with:
Netherlands Film Fund, IKON/EO Doc - Dutch broadcaster
Where can I see it in the next month?
CPHDOX, Cinema du Reel (closing night film), Visions du Reel Nyon (best of fests), Docaviv, Curacao, Hong Kong Film Festival, DOC EDGE New Zealand, Millenium Docs Warsaw..