5 Star Docu-film Yangon Calling, Punx 4 Life.
I’ve been a punk since 1977 and we were anti-establishment, but “God Save the Queen, a fascist regime.” was our battle cry, not with the threat of imprisonment for your views. But in Yangon, Myanmar, a real threat of disappearing without trace is constant, never mind talking to foreign journalists, trying to tell your tale as everyone around you may be a spy working for the man.
A place that has changed over the years but not to the point that you can raise your voice to be heard in the street and have it supported and not silenced. A cracking in-depth piece that will have you glad that you can complain on any media and on any street corner.
Yangon Calling – Punk in Myanmar + Jalanan
Above is a still from Yangon Calling – Punk in Myanmar
Doors Open 19.00, Films Start at 19.30
Tickets for both films: £9 Advance Booking, £8 Concessions, £10 On the door. They can bought be from eventbrite at the bottom of this page
Yangon Calling – Punk in Myanmar (Alexander Dluzak and Carsten Piefke, Germany / Myanmar, 2014) 61 mins
UK Premiere
From the first cassettes of British bands sneaked into this isolated country by sailors in the 1990s, Myanmar’s underground punk scene, radical and defiant, has swelled to several hundred followers. This award-winning documentary, filmed secretly in the former military dictatorship using hidden cameras, provides a rare portrait of the rebels who really do have a cause as they stand up against what was an authoritarian regime, introducing us to their homes, their friends, their families, and their hidden world of rehearsal rooms and illicit concerts.
To watch the trailer of Yangon Calling – Punk in Myanmar click below:-
4 Star long term documentary.
There are 12 million people living in Jakarta and 7,000 of those are buskers and this is the tale of 3 of them. We follow Boni, Ho and Titi, as they travel the many, many buses that circulate the main arteries of this conflicting city, as the poor are the poorest and those that have a job and money are poles apart and they only meet briefly when they are serenaded on their transitory conveyance.
The buskers life is fraught with danger as the authorities will arrest anyone suspected of busking or being of unsatisfactory nature. This is a tale of woe and reprise as we follow the life stories of people who have the best work ethic in the world as they do all they can to get ahead in a massive metropolis.
Jalanan (Daniel Ziv, Indonesia, 2014) 107 mins
UK Premiere
Literally meaning ‘Streetside’, Jalanan provides a pavement-level view of Jakarta through the eyes of Boni, Ho and Titi, three charismatic buskers who ply their trade performing on the city’s bus network. The film paints an intimate portrait of the young musicians’ lives and quirky sub-culture unfolding against the wider little-known backdrop of contemporary Indonesia, and a striking portrayal of the frenzied capital city that is raw, humorous and brutally honest.
To watch the trailer of Jalanan click below:-
The Horse Hospital is situated at Colonnade, Bloomsbury London WC1N 1JD close to Russell Square tube. Tel: +44 (0)20 7833 3644. To find out how to get there click here.
Tickets can be bought from eventbrite at the bottom of this page.
These films are being screened as part of the Asia House Film Festival 2015. To read about all the films click here.
To find out more about the Asia House Film Festival 2015 click here.
