Isolated for the past 40 years, since a brutal military dictatorship seized power in Rangoon, this rich country has been relegated to one of the world's poorest, the assault on its people all but forgotten by the rest of the world.

Award-winning filmmakers John Pilger and David Munro go undercover to expose how the former British colony is ruled by a harsh, bloody and uncompromising military regime.

More than a million people have been forced from their homes and untold thousands killed, tortured and subjected to slavery.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the assassinated independence leader Aung San, spent 6 years under house arrest. In 1990, her party, the National League for Democracy, won 82 percent of the parliamentary seats. The generals, shocked by an election result they never expected, threw 200 of the newly-elected MPs into prison. Suu Kyi's party has never been allowed to take elected office.

She warns that, far from liberalizing life in Burma, foreign investment and tourism can further entrench the military regime.



Grade Level: 10-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 1989     Copyright Date: 1986

Reviews "It is a compelling account of the tragedy of recent Burmese history and the heroic efforts of her citizens to overcome that tragedy. We recommend it highly for any collection that seeks to cover recent Burmese and Southeast Asian history." News and Reviews, Asian Educational Media Service-Univ. of IL/Champaign "Should be required viewing for anyone who claims to be concerned about human rights abuses - in China or anywhere else in the world. For the events in Burma in 1988 - and the dictatorial rule of Burma's military ever since - deserve at least as much attention as has been given to the Tiananmen crackdown and headline-capturing abuses in other parts of the world." WorldViews "Documents the widespread practices of child labor, forced labor, and slavery with graphic footage...The content, narration, and editing are all outstanding...Highly Recommended." Lori Foulke, University of Illinois, MC Journal "Pilger shows how big corporations, foreign investors, and naive tourists have been seduced into supporting an illegitimate regime...This thought-provoking documentary should be seen by policy makers and human rights advocates. Recommended." Video Librarian