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Burma VJ

Burma VJ
FieldValue
nameBurma VJ
imageBurma VJ.jpg
directorAnders Østergaard
producerLise Lense-Møller Com: Magic Hour Films Line: Cecilia Valsted Ass.: Lars Frederiksen
writerAnders Østergaard,
Jan Krogsgaard
narrator"Joshua"
starringThe Burma VJs
musicConny C-A Malmqvist
cinematographySimon Plum
editingJanus Billeskov & Thomas Papapetros
distributorDogwoof Pictures (UK)
Oscilloscope Laboratories (US)
released
runtime84 mins
countryDenmark
languageBurmese
English
gross$123,477

Jan Krogsgaard Oscilloscope Laboratories (US) English

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (; ) is a 2008 Danish documentary film directed by Anders Østergaard. It follows the Saffron Revolution against the military regime in Burma. The "VJ" in the title stands for "video journalists." Some of it was filmed on hand-held cameras. The footage was smuggled out of the country, physically or over the Internet. Other parts of it were reconstructed, which caused controversy. The Burma VJ Media collective is still active as of 2025.

Reception

Critical response

Burma VJ has an approval rating of 97% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 62 reviews, and an average rating of 7.69/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A powerfully visceral docu-drama highlighting the evils of censorship and the essential need for freedom of speech". It also has a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Awards and nominations

Lise Lense-Moller holding award for Burma VJ at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards

The film won awards, especially at European film festivals, e.g. it won the Golden Apricot at the 2009 Yerevan International Film Festival, Armenia, for Best Documentary Film. It won the World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Burma VJ was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Box office

The film was released to one theater on 20 May 2009 and grossed $5,554 in the opening weekend. Its widest release was in three theaters. As of 1 May 2010, the total gross stands at $123,477.

DVD features

The DVD includes a message from Buddhist actor Richard Gere comparing the situation in Burma to that in Tibet.

References

References

  1. "Burma VJ (2009)".
  2. Thomas, Kevin. (29 May 2009). "'Burma VJ' vividly details monk uprising". Los Angeles Times.
  3. Tobias, Scott. (14 July 2010). "Burma VJ: Reporting From A Closed Country".
  4. Bass, Charlie. (28 May 2009). "FILM REVIEW: Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country". The Indypendent.
  5. Marshall, Andrew. (29 January 2009). "Burma VJ: Truth As Casualty".
  6. [https://www.bnionline.net/en/mizzima-news/item/11961-burma-vj-says-it-will-continue-sending-news-to-foreign-based-media.html Burma VJ says it will continue sending news to foreign-based media]. Tun Tun. October 26, 2011. [[Mizzima]].
  7. [https://www.voanews.com/a/citizen-journalists-fight-back-against-myanmar-military-s-crackdown-/6443032.html Citizen Journalists Fight Back Against Myanmar Military's Crackdown]. February 15, 2022. Tommy Walker. [[Voice of America]]
  8. [https://www.bvjnews.com/aboutus Burma VJ: About Us]
  9. "Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2008)".
  10. "Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land".
  11. "Golden Gate Award 2009 Winners".
  12. Mundell, Ian. (1 December 2008). "'Burma VJ' wins Amsterdam prize". Variety.
  13. [http://history.sundance.org/events/842 2009 Sundance Film Festival] {{Webarchive. link. (14 April 2014 sundance.org)
  14. "'Burma VJ' nominated for "Best Documentary" Oscar – CNN Travel".
  15. "Box Office Mojo".
  16. DVD [[Oscilloscope Pictures]] OSC-012, 2010.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

2008-documentary-films 2008-films best-documentary-bodil-award-winners best-documentary-robert-award-winners burmese-democracy-movements burmese-documentary-films danish-documentary-films documentary-films-about-revolutions films-set-in-myanmar
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