By Carly Teng, APYN Burma Youth Campaign Team member
Jogye Temple Cultural Center (courtesy of Amnesty International Korea)
On Sunday May 29th we held a very successful bilingual screening of “The Prison Where I live” in the theatre of the beautiful Jogye Temple. The organization of the event mobilized a number of young volunteers to help translate the script into Korean and help run the event. We had seven Korean high school students help translate the script, who also showed great enthusiasm to get more involved in the event. The screening was attended by 120 people. The film was well received and led to an interesting discussion afterwards. One attendee named Dan McCreadie said that he enjoyed the film as “it showed a humanistic aspect of the issue. It was just one person showing he was trying to do something even though he may not succeed. That’s the harsh reality, but it makes it no less inspirational”.
The event, which was held jointly by the Asia Pacific Youth Network and Amnesty International Korea, also attracted many people from the local Burmese community in support.
Traditional Burmese Dance Ko Tin Yin and Daw May Saw (courtesy of Amnesty International Korea)
The film was followed by a short stand up comedy routine from Ko Tin Yin, and a traditional Burmese dance performance by Ko Tin Yin and Daw May Saw. The dance was really beautiful to watch as Daw May Saw stomped the rhythms with her electric dance moves and Ko Tin Yin waved a flag in the background. After the dance performance, we heard from former political prisoner of 9 years, Ko Moe Zaw Oo. We were grateful for Ko Moe Zaw Oo sharing his personal story with us. His first person narrative gave the audience a great insight into the conditions inside Burma, and the prison system there. Ko Moe Zaw Oo held a Q&A session with that sparked a lively discussion about the isolation and lack of communication with the outside world and family that political prisoners face. We were fortunate to have Migrant Workers’ TV come out and film the event.
Ko Moe Zaw Oo answers questions from the audience (courtesy of Amnesty International Korea)
We plan to hold future screenings through the Asia Pacific Youth Network and are currently identifying campaign team members in different countries who will set up country screenings in countries across the region. If you are interested in helping to translate the script into your local language and/or hosting a screening, please email the APYN Burma Youth Campaign Team @ apynbyc@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article represent individuals in the APYN Burma Youth Campaign Team and do not necessarily reflect those of the Asia Pacific Youth Network or its members.
DO SOMETHING NOW Click here to to sign the petition on Facebook NOW! Don't forget to share it with your friends! Human rights violations are numerous, and 2,200 individuals remain behind bars on the basis of their peaceful political activity, some of them like Zarganar, and some of them are young people like YOU(th). Just because Burma held elections for the first time in 20 years, it doesn’t mean our work is done! What YOU(th) can do to make a difference: Join hands today and demand the 3 freedoms of expression, association, and assembly
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