Requested and Screened 2011-12:
Partial TV Clips aired on:
SHAW TV, CANADA
Synopsis: I Met a Man from Burma is an intimate portrait of struggle and the importance of home, as told through the eyes of Ler Wah Lo Bo. A Burmese refugee and self-coined freedom fighter, Ler Wah tells his life story and that of his country. From revolution, ethnic conflict, child soldiers, to loss, regret, and hope—this is a tale of a man from Burma (now Myanmar).
A 22-minute long documentary short, I Met a Man from Burma, is an interwoven tapestry of frank interviews with Lo Bo in Toronto, coupled with live footage and vivid imagery from today’s Burma. Captured by Canadian photojournalist Brennan O’Connor, the images speak to the devastation of culture, the loss of innocence, and the vitality of a nation. Shot in October 2010 using a Canon 5D Mark II, the film draws on the expository documentary style: a rhetorical and authoritative commentary which speaks directly to the viewer and seeks to present its story through an objective lens. As such, this film is inspired by the following works: David Lynch’s Interview Project, A&E’s Biography; Ken Burns’ The Civil War (1990), Robert Hughes’ The Shock of the New (1980), John Berger’s Ways Of Seeing (1974), Frank Capra’s wartime Why We Fight series and Pare Lorentz’s The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936).
Ler Wah Lo Bo was a teacher and revolutionary fighter for the Karen National Union’s [KNU) Karen National Liberation Army [KNLA]—representing the largest ethnic minority in Burma and seeking autonomy from the oppressive military regime. After 16 years of service, Lo Bo left the KNU and helped to set up refugee camps and NGO mapping and monitoring systems for land mines. Lo Bo and his family lived in a shelter near the Thai-Burma border, and later a refugee camp in southern Thailand. In Bangkok and Chiang Mai, he worked as an English, Thai and Burmese translator; he also collected footage for the 2003 documentary Burma: Anatomy of Terror (narrated by Susan Sarandon), and was later sent to New York to help edit the film. After the project was finished, he decided to make Canada his home. (A refugee organization in Vermont would drive him to the border.) In 2002, Lo Bo settled in Toronto, Canada—leaving his wife and three children behind. Over the years, he has applied for his permanent residence but has been denied; the Canadian government has deemed his involvement with the KNU and KNLA as unlawful. Without papers he cannot travel or sponsor his family. In November 2007, Leh Wah’s wife (who had relocated with her children to North Carolina) was killed in a car accident; Ler Wah was unable to attend the funeral and has not seen his family since 2001. Now 53, Lo Bo is an advocate for Burma. In Toronto, he works as a phone interpreter for Karen people across North America, and helps newly-arrived Karen refugees. He is a reputed musician within his community and is focused on educating the Burmese youth along the Thai-Burma border. His goal: to visit his children, to see his homeland, to bring peace to his country, and to build schools for his people.
This is Tara Browne’s debut documentary short. As director and co-producer of I Met a Man from Burma, she is inspired by dynamic characters and the complexities of man. Working with Ler Wah was an education—not only in the history of Burma, but in the depths of human emotion. She brings this humanity to the screen for all to share, with the hopes of building awareness for the plight of child soldiers in Burma and the schools Ler Wah wishes to build. Tara Browne is an actor/director/producer and founder of Diversity Face Films. She works out of Vancouver and Toronto, Canada.
Crew:
Directed by: Tara Browne
Edited by: Oren Harad
Directed by: Tara Browne
Edited by: Oren Harad
Composed by: Darren Morze
Post Sound Mixer & Dialogue Editor: Brian Horrell
Post Sound Mixer & Dialogue Editor: Brian Horrell
Cinematography by: Jon Weiman and Torey Kohara
Still Photography and Video footage by: Brennan O'Connor
Produced by: Dennis Beier
