In such extraordinary difficult times, a group of young Burmese filmmakers – both men and women – continue their work – as an act of creative resistance against the military regime. The group has chosen to remain anonymous, and calls itself The Myanmar Film Collective (MFC). They remain anonymous for their own safety, for thousands are being arrested and murdered for resisting the military regime, and those in the creative industries are being targeted as well.

After the military coup in early February last year, the filmmakers wrote the following:

This film is a reaction to the “spring-like dream” of freedom in Myanmar that lasted for merely ten years. It is about enthusiasm and hope of a young generation brutally crushed. Perversely, it is a nightmare that the older generations had hoped would never occur in this country again.

The filmmakers in this collective currently living in Myanmar decided to express this confusing, nightmarish time and the state of hopelessness through the medium of film, and weave short documentary and partly fictionalized anonymous hybrid films together.

MYANMAR DIARIES will be the collective expression of the youth born in the ’90s and the older generation who have grown up during the military rule. In it, you will see not just the despair, but also the absurdity of the whole situation, the sheer horror of the foolishness of the thirst for power, as well as the never-ending hope that there is still a chance for good in this seemingly hopeless world.

One year later, as the film has its world premiere in February 2022 in Berlinale’s Panorama, the MFC shares the following update: 

This film is an expression of the pain and suffering our country has suffered since the military coup. It is a cry of injustice. And a demand that the world take notice. Not ignore us. Let the film become the statement that says “No More”. Let the film be a voice for the people who
have no voice.

We hope MYANMAR DIARIES will be a historical testament to remind us, and warn us and future generations about what must never happen again: that a country’s freedom can be taken away from it. We feel it our ethical duty to capture this horror on film. What has happened in Myanmar is not just a threat against the people of Myanmar, but against the principle of democracy and Human Rights in the entire world. If we allow any dictator to act as they want with impunity, it paves the way for the next monster to follow.