Courageous Journalism:
How Myanmar Filmmakers Tell the World the Truth
This seminar is an online event via Zoom
Date: April 27, 2026 (Monday)
Time: 06:00 – 07:00 PM (Melbourne Time)
02:30-03:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)
Join Zoom Meeting: please click here
Meeting ID: 896 6683 9791
Passcode: 522994
Presenter: Chan Thiri Soe
Chan is the organiser of the Peacock Film Festival run by the Democratic Voice of Burma, which showcases documentary films focusing on human rights, social justice, and resistance to the 2021 military coup in Myanmar. She is in a unique position to discuss the role of films in contemporary Myanmar.
For AMI she will show a short documentary on the organisation of resistance and how ordinary people were propelled to join the Civil Disobedience Movement. After the screening Chan will discuss how films and filmmaking have come to represent a form of preparation for a possible future civil society in Myanmar. Following the February 2021 coup in Myanmar, many lecturers and students across the country, were among the first to join the Civil Disobedience Movement. They faced severe pressure but took great personal risks and in large numbers joined armed resistance groups. Some supported grassroots journalism to document the military’s crackdown in their communities and several documented these tumultuous times through filming.
On 27 April Chan will be screening “Star (ကြယ်)”, a 15-minute documentary about lecturer Daw Radi Ong who joins the Civil Disobedience Movement and becomes a local journalist. The film follows Daw Radi Ong’s life in Kalay and remarkable process of how she and her student left their social and professional roles to confront the military and promote revolution. After the screening Chan will describe the voices and stories the film represents and how, despite low budgets and security risks for filmmakers, film has become an important source of communication, organisation, and resistance.
Chan is a Myanmar journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry and currently serves as Executive Producer of the CJ Shorts Program (Citizen Journalist Short Documentary Program) at Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). She is the founder of DVB Short Documentary Compilations (DSDC), launched in 2022 as a platform to showcase short documentary works. This initiative later evolved into the DVB Peacock Film Festival (DVB PFF) in 2024, which she also founded to nurture and promote emerging Myanmar filmmakers.
Her work focuses on human rights, conflict, and social issues in Myanmar, with a strong commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices and bringing international attention to the country’s ongoing crisis. She continues to engage in media and advocacy efforts to support independent journalism and storytelling.
Star (ကြယ်) (Duration: 15:58)
After the coup, lecturer Daw Radi Ong joins the Civil Disobedience Movement and becomes a local journalist. The film follows her life in Kalay and the story of her student who joined the revolution.
Questions and Answers will follow the presentations. For more information about AMI, please visit aummi.edu.au/.