I'm writing this post in response to a question that was raised yesterday on our facebook page: how is the Carrboro Burmese community being engaged in this series?
I'd like to address this question in the blog forum because it gives me a chance to highlight the contributions of our Burmese friends and neighbors, which I have yet to do on this site.
As those of you that have attended our events know, Imagining Burma could not have succeeded without the support of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Burmese community. First, our Burmese neighbors have contributed to the events in the series by preparing the delicious food we served on 7/17 and 7/31. Second, the Burmese community has made it possible for Joseph and I to screen Burmese films. Due to the tight restrictions on Burmese film exports, our only option for accessing Burmese films within the time frame of the festival was to borrow from our Burmese friends. The Burmese community has also helped by offering input on the best ways to donate to cyclone relief efforts. Most importantly, the Burmese community has contributed to the film series with its lively presence at the events. One of our goals in putting on the film series was to draw greater attention to the wonderfully vibrant Burmese community in the Triangle. Thanks to the support of our Burmese friends, the film series has succeeded in bringing together diverse groups of people who care about Burma.
Feel free to add your own thoughts by clicking the comments link below.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Announcement
It was great to see so many friendly faces at yesterday's screenings! The discussion of the film _Our Burmese Days_ was lively and engaging. Send me an e-mail for a synopsis of the debate.
Due to time constraints, we were unable to show _Burma: In the Garden of the Crying Buddha_. This film will be moved to the 8/14 date at The Skylight Exchange/Nightlight venue at 405 1/2 W. Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill. We are still in the process of selecting the other films for that date. The documentary will be shown first as a stand-alone piece and the other films will be part of a mixed media audio-visual collage piece conceived by WXYC's finest artists.
For those of you who are interested in documentaries, here's a description of _Burma: In the Garden..._ (from Sloane Art Library catalog):
This program presents an intriguing glimpse of Burmese life, ranging from washing the sacred Buddha at the Maha Muni Pagoda and the initiation of young Buddhist novices amid the ruins of Bagan to farming the amazing floating gardens of Lake Inle. Issues including Burma's 40-year civil war, the vital role of the railway and the cinema, and rampant smuggling are addressed as well.
Due to time constraints, we were unable to show _Burma: In the Garden of the Crying Buddha_. This film will be moved to the 8/14 date at The Skylight Exchange/Nightlight venue at 405 1/2 W. Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill. We are still in the process of selecting the other films for that date. The documentary will be shown first as a stand-alone piece and the other films will be part of a mixed media audio-visual collage piece conceived by WXYC's finest artists.
For those of you who are interested in documentaries, here's a description of _Burma: In the Garden..._ (from Sloane Art Library catalog):
This program presents an intriguing glimpse of Burmese life, ranging from washing the sacred Buddha at the Maha Muni Pagoda and the initiation of young Buddhist novices amid the ruins of Bagan to farming the amazing floating gardens of Lake Inle. Issues including Burma's 40-year civil war, the vital role of the railway and the cinema, and rampant smuggling are addressed as well.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thankfully, I received a gentle (and much-needed) reminder yesterday about updating our blog. What better time to post an announcement about Imagining Burma than right before our highly anticipated second event. Please read ahead for a thorough account of all that's happened in the last few weeks and stay tuned for more frequent (I promise!) announcements.
First, we finalized our list of sponsors (it's a doozy!). We are very fortunate to have the support of the Southeast Asia Interest Association (SEAIA), WXYC FM, Graduate and Professional Student Federation (GPSF), Graduate Association for Geography Students (GAGS), Carolina Asian Center (CAC), the Media Resources Center (MRC), Weaver Street Market, and the departments of Comparative Literature, Asian Studies, International and Area Studies, and the Institute for the Environment. Special thanks to all of these UNC student organizations and academic departments and to Weaver Street, our socially-conscious local market.
Next, our opening night party and screening were very successful! WXYC Music Director Jon Page spun three hours of the hottest hits from Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on Burmese popular music. Members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Burmese community provided a feast of delicious authentic regional cuisine. We screened _The Burmese Harp_ at Southern Rail and (despite the gravitas of the film's subject), everyone had a great time. Not only did we enjoy the screening, we also learned a lot from this film, which is a rare filmic look at the pre-junta Burmese countryside.
Thank you to all of the local, national, and international press outlets that covered our event. Keep a look out for reports about the Burmese film series on radio, TV, and in print media! I will post links to these stories as they become available.
We raised a great deal of money at the opening night. The exact amount is not known because many of the donations were made in private at our online donation stations. We raised $360 in cash from the dinner alone and Weaver Street donated an additional $250 to help cyclone victims. We expect the online donations to have exceeded the cash total.
Over the last two weeks, Joseph and I have been busy planning for tonight's special event at Hanes Art Center auditorium. From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST, we will screen two documentaries about Burma's nationhood and host speakers from the Triangle Burmese refugee community. Once again, our Burmese friends have prepared a wonderful selection of snacks. Please join us tonight!
First, we finalized our list of sponsors (it's a doozy!). We are very fortunate to have the support of the Southeast Asia Interest Association (SEAIA), WXYC FM, Graduate and Professional Student Federation (GPSF), Graduate Association for Geography Students (GAGS), Carolina Asian Center (CAC), the Media Resources Center (MRC), Weaver Street Market, and the departments of Comparative Literature, Asian Studies, International and Area Studies, and the Institute for the Environment. Special thanks to all of these UNC student organizations and academic departments and to Weaver Street, our socially-conscious local market.
Next, our opening night party and screening were very successful! WXYC Music Director Jon Page spun three hours of the hottest hits from Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on Burmese popular music. Members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Burmese community provided a feast of delicious authentic regional cuisine. We screened _The Burmese Harp_ at Southern Rail and (despite the gravitas of the film's subject), everyone had a great time. Not only did we enjoy the screening, we also learned a lot from this film, which is a rare filmic look at the pre-junta Burmese countryside.
Thank you to all of the local, national, and international press outlets that covered our event. Keep a look out for reports about the Burmese film series on radio, TV, and in print media! I will post links to these stories as they become available.
We raised a great deal of money at the opening night. The exact amount is not known because many of the donations were made in private at our online donation stations. We raised $360 in cash from the dinner alone and Weaver Street donated an additional $250 to help cyclone victims. We expect the online donations to have exceeded the cash total.
Over the last two weeks, Joseph and I have been busy planning for tonight's special event at Hanes Art Center auditorium. From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST, we will screen two documentaries about Burma's nationhood and host speakers from the Triangle Burmese refugee community. Once again, our Burmese friends have prepared a wonderful selection of snacks. Please join us tonight!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Can we borrow your PA?
We need a PA for the DJs at our opening party on July 17th! Can we borrow your's? Respond to our blog post or scroll down for our contact information.
Press Release
We finished our press release today! Read, enjoy, disseminate widely!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact People: Lauren Brenner, Joseph Palis
Telephone Numbers: (919) 260-7125, (919) 360-5519
Email Addresses: lbrenner@email.unc.edu, palis@email.unc.edu
Web site: http://imaginingburma.blogspot.com
Chapel Hill-Carrboro, NC
June 23, 3008
At the end of the twentieth-century, Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman said, "Film images now bulldoze boundaries.” With current debates about the collapse of nation-states, the question arises: does national cinema still exist in contemporary times? Some argue that the national is not what it once was, but neither has it disappeared. In the current cinematic practice, a paradox exists in the dissolving of national signifiers and the simultaneous rise of state-sponsored national imagery.
It is with these issues in mind that we are mounting a post-national film series in Chapel Hill and Carrboro that focuses on Burma. In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the role of the state in relief operations draws attention to the type of image Burma’s state wants to project. "Imagining Burma: A Post-National Film Series" aims to critically explore the issue of blurred national boundaries of Burma through a program of feature-length films and documentaries. The film series also hopes to provide a public venue in the Triangle of North Carolina, where one of the largest concentrations of Burmese refugees has settled. Our goals are to encourage debate on these films and also to assist the Burmese communities who were directly and indirectly affected by the cyclone.
“Imagining Burma” will open with a party from 7pm to 9pm on July 17, 2008 at Weaver Street Market. This outdoor event will feature WXYC DJs spinning Southeast Asian music and free Burmese cuisine. A screening of The Burmese Harp will follow at Southern Rail (The Station) from 10pm to midnight. On July 31, the series will continue with a pair of documentaries, Our Burmese Days and Burma from 7pm to 9pm at Hanes Art Center on UNC's Campus. The third event in the series will be a screening and Southeast Asian Dance party from 9pm to 2am on August 14 at the Nightlight.
For more information, contact Lauren Brenner (lbrenner@email.unc.edu, 919-260-7125) or Joseph Palis (palis@email.unc.edu , 919-360-5519).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact People: Lauren Brenner, Joseph Palis
Telephone Numbers: (919) 260-7125, (919) 360-5519
Email Addresses: lbrenner@email.unc.edu, palis@email.unc.edu
Web site: http://imaginingburma.blogspot.com
Chapel Hill-Carrboro, NC
June 23, 3008
At the end of the twentieth-century, Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman said, "Film images now bulldoze boundaries.” With current debates about the collapse of nation-states, the question arises: does national cinema still exist in contemporary times? Some argue that the national is not what it once was, but neither has it disappeared. In the current cinematic practice, a paradox exists in the dissolving of national signifiers and the simultaneous rise of state-sponsored national imagery.
It is with these issues in mind that we are mounting a post-national film series in Chapel Hill and Carrboro that focuses on Burma. In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the role of the state in relief operations draws attention to the type of image Burma’s state wants to project. "Imagining Burma: A Post-National Film Series" aims to critically explore the issue of blurred national boundaries of Burma through a program of feature-length films and documentaries. The film series also hopes to provide a public venue in the Triangle of North Carolina, where one of the largest concentrations of Burmese refugees has settled. Our goals are to encourage debate on these films and also to assist the Burmese communities who were directly and indirectly affected by the cyclone.
“Imagining Burma” will open with a party from 7pm to 9pm on July 17, 2008 at Weaver Street Market. This outdoor event will feature WXYC DJs spinning Southeast Asian music and free Burmese cuisine. A screening of The Burmese Harp will follow at Southern Rail (The Station) from 10pm to midnight. On July 31, the series will continue with a pair of documentaries, Our Burmese Days and Burma from 7pm to 9pm at Hanes Art Center on UNC's Campus. The third event in the series will be a screening and Southeast Asian Dance party from 9pm to 2am on August 14 at the Nightlight.
For more information, contact Lauren Brenner (lbrenner@email.unc.edu
Blog Mission
My name is Lauren Brenner and I am the Co-Director of Imagining Burma: A Post-National Film Series. I created this blog for the purpose of sharing news and developments related to the series. I will be authoring and administering this blog in conjunction with my partner, Joseph Palis. Check in frequently for updates! We welcome your comments.
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