Watch the Movie "Burma VJ"!

The Moei River looking over to the Burma side.

Jika and monks crossing the Friendship Bridge linking Mae Sot, Thailand 
with Myawaddy, Burma.

When Jika and I traveled after finishing work in Cambodia, we spent the majority of our time in Mae Sot, Thailand.  I have so many thoughts and emotions about my time there, because being there struck me faster and harder than any place I've been in recent memory, that I haven't yet figured out how to share the experience in written words.  When I talk to friends and family about being there, it all comes out in a jumble about "former political prisoners" and "underground journalists" and "refugees" and "resistance" and "ethnic hill tribes" and "economic migrants" and and all the stuff that people that know me know I am really into.  In an effort to be succinct, I will essentialize and say that Mae Sot:

• is not only on the Thai border with Burma, but also has a formal crossing point with the Burmese town of Myawaddy.
• hosts a large population of Burmese refugees and migrants.
• is the hub of political and democratic resistance activities against the Myanmar junta.  

Jika and I met a lot of inspiring people there, Burmese and foreign, and we also went into Burma one day.  One of the guys we met works for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and filmed a lot of the footage for the 2010 Oscar-nominated, best documentary feature film, "Burma VJ."  The movie is about the 2007, monk-led Saffron Revolution, and comes from footage shot by Burmese undercover reporters.  You can watch the movie in increments on youtube, the trailer is here, and the first part is here. Having dinner with someone who, for over 20 years, has been involved in this movement against an oppressive regime was...  um, yeah I still don't know how to even describe without a parade of trite adjectives. One day I will find the words, but in the meantime, with the Oscars coming up on March 7, I wanted to share this and maybe people will have a new movie to root for.  

(P.S. Has anyone seen another movie nominated in this category, "Which Way Home?" about kids from Central America riding trains up to the United States?  Know where I can watch it?)