>> Catalog 2023

Losing Ground

MYANMAR / 2023 / Burmese / Color / Digital File / 23 min

Director: Anonymous

The view from the window is of countless other windows, each one containing its own scene of distress. In dark rooms, young people are illuminated by the light coming in through their windows. Outside, despair spreads. Their freedom has been lost with the coup d’état. Friends are arrested one after the next. Imprisoned for eight months, “he” says his life outside prison is worse. Much like a fish in a fish tank, a caged bird. In rooms resembling prison cells, they paint pictures, play instruments, and cry out in the face of a bleak future. Tormented by injustices and consumed by anger and uncertainty, the youth of Yangon keep their gloom contained within. (IT)

[Director’s Statement] I grew up in Yangon. On February 2021 my dreams came to an end. My mother said: “Son, wake up. The military has taken over the country.” The days got darker. The window in my narrow room and the piece of sky I watched seemed to be the only freedom I had left. I wanted to say something about this new undercurrent in my life. I wrote things down, recorded my voice, and searched for images that might reflect my feelings and those of other young people. And so now there is a film which conveys what it’s like to lose the ground beneath your feet.