Burma VJ

Burma VJ - reports from a closed country is a Danish documentary by Anders Østergaard from 2008 The film follows the demonstrations in Myanmar in 2007, which were directed against the military dictatorship in Burma.. The film was nominated for Best Documentary in 2010 for an Oscar in the category.

Action

The film is based on the material of different video journalists ( VJs ) in Burma who are trying to document the situation in their country. The documentation consists of recordings over several months during the demonstrations in Myanmar made ​​these VJs 2007. It shows the beginnings of the demonstrations as well as their crackdown.

Criticism

The documentary received a favorable response. To be found at Rotten Tomatoes of 59 reviews only two negative. The consensus after the film was a " powerful, visceral docu-drama ". Also, a summary of the reviews on Metacritic gives a Metascore, which is 82 out of 100. The main criticism of the film was by the critics in the dramatization of some scenes, with the enactment of some scenes for controversy caused. Robert Davis, an editor of the magazine Paste stated, Østergaard " blurs the line between what is real and what is modeled ."

Awards

After his release, the documentation received many critics and audience awards. 2009 Burma VJ received at the Sundance Film Festival the World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award. In the same year the film won at the San Francisco International Film Festival the price Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award: Investigative Documentary Feature. Burma VJ was one of the nominated documentaries in the category " Best Documentary " at the Oscar ceremony in 2010, but lost to the documentation of the bay.