Restoring Rangoon – Unique Heritage is Under Threat

Documentary.net staff — Sat, 25 May 2013 17:58:15 +0000

Myanmar’s former capital, Yangon, boasts one of the most spectacular early-20th century urban landscapes in Asia. A century ago the country’s former capital was one of the world's great trading cities and the legacy of that cosmopolitan past remains today. Saved from the fate of other Asian cities due to the country's isolation under military rule, Yangon’s downtown area is a unique blend of cultural and imperial architecture, considered to be the last surviving "colonial core" in Asia. But as the country opens up, this unique heritage is under threat. Decades of neglect have left once grand buildings a crumbling mess and they are at grave risk of being demolished in favour of hastily built towers and condominiums. Some of the damage has already been done as developers race to cash in on the country’s rapid pace of change. Myanmar historian and scholar, Thant Myint U, is leading the charge to preserve Yangon’s heritage and return many buildings to their former glory. He has founded the Yangon Heritage Trust, a group pushing for a cohesive urban plan for the city. The stories of the buildings and the people who lived - and still live in them today, are truly unique in the world. The team was granted rare access inside the famous Secretariat building, the site of Myanmar's independence ceremony in 1948 and the assassination of national hero, General Aung San, the father of pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi. This immense building, which housed the parliament from 1948-1962 has been closed to the public behind razor wire for more than half a century and few have ever seen inside it. Its greatest challenge may yet be surviving the modern era as Yangon embarks on its dramatic transition into a modern Asian city.

Blood and Gold: Inside Burma’s Hidden War

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:58:28 +0000

Deep in the wilds of northern Myanmar's Kachin state a brutal civil war has intensified over the past year between government forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Filmmakers Jason Motlagh and Steve Sapienza investigate why the conflict rages on, despite the political reforms in the south that have impressed Western governments and investors now lining up to stake their claim in the resource-rich Asian nation. Bald patches of dirt and shredded tree stumps speak to the artillery barrages that rained down on rebel Capt. Malang Naw Mai and his men when they arrived at their hilltop outpost nine months ago. He has since lost about one-fifth of his unit in combat, but the veteran officer insists the Burmese Army’s ruthless treatment of ethnic Kachin civilians fuels his resolve to hold the frontline. “I’m proud to be fighting their oppression and I will be satisfied if I die fighting,” he says. The war in Kachin reignited last year when the Burmese Army attacked a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) post near a disputed hydropower dam site, ending a 17-year ceasefire. It has since ramped up its offensive, calling into question the authority of a nominally civilian government that has repeatedly ordered it to stop fighting. “This so-called reform process has made it possible for the government - and the government means the military - to get away with almost anything,” says Bertil Lintner, an author and journalist who has covered Burma for more than 30 years. “Things they would have been severely criticised for in the past are being ignored by the international community.” So far, more than 75,000 ethnic Kachin civilians have been driven from their ancestral lands. Human rights groups allege the Burmese army is intentionally attacking civilian areas, with wide-spread evidence of torture, rape, forced conscription and summary executions. Both sides employ child soldiers and continue to sow the ground with land mines. According to a June report by Human Rights Watch, at least 10,000 additional Kachin refugees are stranded in make-shift camps across the border in China, where authorities still refuse to grant the United Nations and relief agencies access. Thousands have reportedly been forced back across the border, into harm’s way. Such grim developments contradict the reform narrative now emanating from the long-time pariah state, officially known as Myanmar. By Jason Motlagh

Burma Videos - The Documentary Network

Restoring Rangoon – Unique Heritage is Under Threat

Blood and Gold: Inside Burma’s Hidden War