Friday, February 18th, 2011 New Voices, New Visions: Buddhism, Development, and New Documentary Filmmaking in Myanmar

Description

This two-campus series will feature ethnographic films by young Tibetans from within China and young Burmese filmmakers, a lecture and film on Buddhism in Burma, and a workshop on documentary film and development in Asia. Interesting similarities between Burmese and Tibetan cultures – both of which flourish in strongly Buddhist, intellectually rich yet economically poor communities living within difficult political boundaries – make this cross-cultural comparison especially compelling. The weekend will feature works of emerging and established Tibetan filmmakers, most of which have never been shown outside China, Burmese students participating in the Yangon Film School, and established Anglo-Burman filmmaker Lindsey Merrison. Films will be followed by discussions with invited Toronto filmmakers. Discussions will also focus on the special value of participatory film projects for young people living in threatened cultural groups and on the potential of open access and open source tools and practices for these communities. The event venues will be enhanced by a stunning exhibit of images by Plateau Photographers, an open participatory photography project that trains minority students in western China.

A bus to UTSC will leave from in front of Hart House (Hart House Circle) at 11:15 am, and again at 5:30pm. It will return to Hart House from UTSC at the end of the day around 9 pm. All are welcome on the bus. For questions, contact aep@utsc.utoronto.ca or 416.208.4769

FRIDAY FEB. 18, Noon-9 pm
BUDDHISM, DEVELOPMENT, AND NEW DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING IN MYANMAR
Location: UTSC, LL Browne Theatre (12 – 5 PM) and AA-112 (7 – 9 PM)

12-1:00
Introduction: Frances Garrett and Leslie Chan
Lecture: Lindsey Merrison and Eh Mwee
In 2005, Anglo-Burma Director and Producer Lindsey Merrison and seven other experienced filmmakers mounted the first Art of Documentary Filmmaking workshop in Myanmar, during which they trained 12 young Burmese men and women to develop their own skills as documentarians. Lindsey has since mounted a second workshop, The Art of Documentary Editing (2006), and founded the non-profit organization, Yangon Film School – Association for the Promotion of Young Burmese Film and Video Artists, with the aim of setting up a permanent school in Yangon with a regular curriculum. This series was expanded in 2009 with the release of Stories from Myanmar, which showcases the work of participants of the 2007 Yangon Film School workshops in Myanmar.
A member of the Karen ethnic group, Eh Mwee comes to Toronto for this event from Myanmar. She is a director, cinematographer and editor who joined YFS in 2005, after which she married, returned to Bangkok to finish her Master’s degree in gender studies, returned to Myanmar to have a child, joined Oxfam, and later worked as a freelance evaluator for NGOs. She came back to YFS in 2009, where she rediscovered her passion for filmmaking.

1:00-2:30
Film: “Stories from Myanmar”
The work of 12 new participants from The Art of Documentary Filmmaking Beginners Workshop 2007, who were given the opportunity to grapple with the technical, artistic and ethical aspects of the genre by producing their own short documentaries on the topic of children in Myanmar. This DVD contains their first film exercises: Stories from the Princess Hotel; their final films: Children in Myanmar; and a short film About the Beginners’ Workshop. Stories of Change features projects by students of several YFS courses completed during The Art of Documentary Filmmaking Stage Two in 2007. Made for two NGOs, Metta Development Foundation and International Development Enterprise, these documentaries portray people from Kachin State, southern Shan State and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta who describe, in their own emotive and surprisingly humorous words, how development organisations are making a real difference to their lives. The body of work bears witness to a growing nucleus of talented young Burmese filmmakers who are striving to create challenging work in an environment notorious for discouraging independent media. Their films provide a hitherto unseen window on the lives of ordinary people in Myanmar.

2:30-2:50
Discussion with filmmakers and audience

2:50-3:00
Break

3:00-5:00
Workshop on participatory media for international development
Weekend participants will join local Toronto documentary filmmakers and professors and students in UTSC’s program in new media and international development studies to discuss the potential of new media practices for international development. Our conversation will consider the theory and practice of “participatory development,” whether participatory media makes development more open and inclusive, and how new modes of access to and participation in media-making may alter the practice and conceptualization of development.

5:00-6:30
Dinner break

6:30-9:00
Lecture: “Spirits, Ghosts, Goblins and Other Fauna of the Burmese Buddhist Landscape,” Patrick Pranke, University of Louisville
Dr. Pranke holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Michigan. Currently he serves as an Assistant Professor of Humanities at the University of Louisville. His specialization is Burmese Buddhism and Burmese popular cults, which he has conducted extensive research on over several years in the Sagaing Hills in Upper Burma. In addition to his experience in Burma, Dr. Pranke has been a teacher and administrator on the University of Wisconsin’s College Year in India Program and Antioch College’s Buddhist Studies Program in north India. Dr. Pranke also maintains a strong academic interest in Hindu folk traditions.

Film: “Friends in High Places”
By Lindsey Merrison (2001)
Whether contending with a deceitful daughter-in-law, forecasting financial prospects for a tea shop, or freeing a husband from government detainment, Friends in High Places reveals the central role of Buddhist nats and spirit mediums in alleviating the day to day burdens of modern Burmese life. “Leprosy isn’t as contagious as people’s problems,” notes one medium, “my clients bring their worries into my home. I don’t need to go out on the street to learn how cruel life can be.” Yet despite their skills in channeling good luck for others, the life stories of the mediums prove to be as poignant as the stories of those who seek their assistance. Just as nats lie somewhere on the spectrum between mortals and the divine, the gay men who serve as primary conduits for the nat spirits are considered to be neither male nor female. Regarded by society with a curious mix of disdain and reverence, the male mediums profiled in this film – ranging from the gentle, melancholy “Lady Silver Wings” to the hard drinking, ego-driven “Mr. Famous” – illustrate the special niche granted to gay men in Burmese society. Exquisite footage accentuates Lindsey Merrison’s keen eye for nuance as she takes the viewer on a journey examining the extremes that define Burmese spirit mediums and their way of life. Deceit and artistry, tragedy and comedy, faith and cynicism – in a country known both as a 2,500 year bastion of Buddhism and more recently for its legacy of political corruption and instability, the world of the nat becomes an analogy for the many unusual juxtapositions within Burma itself.