Burma VJ : reporting from a closed country
(DVD)

Special features include: Optional audio feature commentary with director Anders Østergaard and film critic John Anderson ; "Fighting for freedom," a video interview with exiled Burma VJ "Joshua" (ca. 11 min.) ; Burmese monks' stories from the uprisings televised by Democratic Voice of Burma (ca. 26 min. total ; Protest leaders in 2007: U Gaw Si Ta, U Aw Ba Tha; Participants in 1988: Ashin Cando Bhasacara, Ashin Pyinnya Jota ; produced by AsiaWorks Television in Sept. 2008) ; video message from Richard Gere (ca. 5 min.) ; "Crossing midnight (short film about refugees on the Thai/Burma border, ca. 29 min.) , and an essay by Desmond Tutu.

Originally released as a motion picture in 2008.

Note at start of film: "This film is comprised largely of material shot by undercover reporters in Burma. Some elements of the film have been reconstructed in close co-operation with the actual persons involved, just as some names, places, and other recognizable facts have been altered for security reasons and in order to protect individuals."

Director of photography, Simon Plum ; reportage footage, Burma's video journalists ; editors, Janus Billeskov Jansen, Thomas Papapetros ; composer, Conny C.-A. Malmqvist.

"Anders Østergaard's...documentary... is a rare and exceptional look into the 2007 uprising in Burma (Myanmar) where 100,000 people, including thousands of Buddhist monks, peacefully took to the streets to protest the country's repressive regime that has held them hostage for over forty years. During the uprising, the military turned their guns on the peaceful protestors, and blood spilled in the streets. Foreign news reporters were banned and the internet shut down. But Democratic Voice of Burma, a collective of thirty anonymous and underground citizen video journalists (VJs), heroically bore witness to the historic events and secretly videotaped what they saw. Through a dedicated network of supporters, they smuggled the footage out of the country, where it was broadcast via satellite to a world horrified by the violence against a people fighting for democracy. Risking torture and life imprisonment, the VJs vividly documented the brutal clashes with the military and undercover police -- even after they became targets of the authorities. Burma VJ represents their inspiring stories of courage and hope and the undying spirit of a people fighting for freedom." -- Container.

DVD format ; NTSC, Region 0 ; widescreen (2.00:1 aspect ratio) ; stereo.

In English and Burmese ; optional English subtitles.

Freedom of Expression Award (2009), National Board of Review ; World Cinema Documentary Editing Award, 2009 Sundance Film Festival ; Winner, Cinema for Peace Award, International Human Rights Film Award (2009), Cinema for Peace ; Winner, Grand Jury Award, 2009 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival ; Nominee, Best Documentary Feature, 2010 Academy Awards ; Winner, Grand Prize, 2009 Boulder International Film Festival.