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!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
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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