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Film Screening and Discussion: The Voice of Burma

(This article expired 27.06.2013.)

The Embassy of the Czech Republic, in collaboration with People in Need, invites you to a screening of the film The Voice of Burma and a discussion following the screening with John Knaus (National Endowment for Democracy) and Marek Svoboda (Head of the Human Rights & Democracy Department, People in Need) on Thursday, June 28, 2012, at 6:30 pm.


The event is part of a program presenting a selection of films from the One World Film Festival.

Location: Embassy of the Czech Republic
3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW, Washington, DC

R.S.V.P. to czech_events@yahoo.com, by June 28, 2012
Please put “Voice of Burma” in the subject line

A reception with light refreshments follows the event.



The Voice of Burma

“We don’t see it as work. It is our destiny, our future,” says the Burmese editor in chief of the small Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) radio station, which he founded with a few compatriots in the early 1990s in Oslo, Norway. The aim of their émigré radio station was to bring free information to their homeland, where independent media essentially does not exist. As a result, DVB’s reporters have been present at all important political events in Burma, culminating in 2007’s violently suppressed Saffron Revolution. None of the protests moved the repressive military regime. In 2011, the junta held parliamentary elections. This documentary follows the preparations of DVB’s editorial team to cover this crucial moment in their country’s history, which they decided to broadcast live on TV. Despite some initial difficulties with transmission, the reporters succeeded in producing authentic testimony of the course of the elections, including the moving moment when the regime releases the opposition politician and human rights defender Aung San Suu Kyi. Turid Rogne / Norway / 2011 / 64 min./ in English and Burmese with English subtitles

Participants:

John Knaus, Senior Program Officer for Asia, has worked on the National Endowment Democracy’s (NED) Asia programs since 1997.  He has primary responsibility for the Endowment's programs in mainland Southeast Asia and North Korea. Mr. Knaus travels throughout Asia to assist and evaluate current NED grantees, consult with regional experts, and develop future programs. Prior to joining the Endowment, Mr. Knaus worked with Tibetan refugees in northern India. Mr. Knaus earned his B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University and his M.A. with distinction in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. His writings on Asia have appeared in the Journal of Democracy, the Nation (Bangkok), and the Korea Times.

Marek Svoboda is the Head of People in Need’s Human Rights & Democracy Department. He holds a MA degree from the University of Economics in Prague. Previously, he worked for the U.S. Embassy in Prague as an NGO coordinator and acting director of the American Center, being responsible for communication and cooperation with Czech NGOs and think-tanks. He prepared a program of small grants for Czech NGOs and cultural institutions, streamlining the existing Embassy grant-giving mechanism.

People in Need
People in Need (PIN) is currently the largest NGO in Central Europe, focusing on relief and development programs, support of human rights and domestically on social integration of disadvantaged groups. In its 20 years of existence, PIN has worked in over 40 countries worldwide. PIN is also the founder and organizer of the One World Human Rights Film Festival.

Web: www.clovekvtisni.cz/indexen.php

One World Film Festival
One World (Czech: Jeden Svět), established in 1999 by Igor Blaževič and the Czech NGO People in Need, is one of the biggest human rights documentary film festival in the world, held annually in the spring in Prague and other cities of the Czech Republic and for the past few years also in Brussels. One World is a founding member of the Human Rights Film Network and has been inspiring and actively helping with the establishment of more than 30 human rights oriented festivals in Europe, Africa and Asia. The festival brings together a passionate group of filmmakers, human rights activists and charismatic individuals that stand at the frontline of the struggle for freedom, justice and human dignity. The year, the One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival featured 106 documentary films from 44 countries.

Web: www.oneworld.cz