Watch "Padauk: Myanmar Spring" in Berlin!

This film will have its world premiere at an event sponsored by the German Solidarity with Myanmar Democracy, as described in a recent post. You are also encouraged to listen to an interview that Insight Myanmar Podcast had with the maker of this documentary, Jeanne Hallacy.

Padauk: Myanmar Spring

USA 2021, 56 min., directed by Jeanne Marie Hallacy & Rares Michael Ghilezan

Language: English, Burmese with english subtitles

Genre: Documentary

Through Nant, a young, first-time protester, we meet three human rights activists whose lives have been turned upside down by the coup. Many young people had grown up with a sense of hope over the last decade as the country began to open up and some form of democracy began to flourish in the wake of the 2015 victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National league for Democracy (NLD) party.

When Myanmar's new military junta seized power on 1 February 2021 and overturned the results of democratic elections, the people of Yangon, Mandalay and many other cities and towns took it upon themselves to protest and fight back.

As the protests continue, Nant comes to understand the truth of a brutal regime that has continued to wage war against its own people for decades. Nant- as one of the millions of youth who were previously not engaged in political or social issues – but realized through the coup that they had been blinded by the military propaganda and lacked compassion for the Rohingya and ethnics.

Another main character in the documentary is Zaw, a teacher-turned-activist, who said as Generation Z or Gen Z, they were the last generation to fight against the military – the last chance to crush the horror of military rule. Zaw said put the fight into perspective. Our grandparents failed against General Ne Win, our parents failed against General Than Shwe, he said, and now it is Gen Z that is fighting against General Min Aung Hlaing.

Selected Screenings & Awards

Burma Spring Benefit Film Festival, San Francisco, CA 2021

Seoul International Women’s Film Festival, South Korea, 2021

Busan Peace Film Festival, Busan, South Korea, 2021

Dharamshala International Film Festival, Dharamshala, India, 2021