Film and talk session about artistic resistance against the military coup in Myanmar

February 24 2022

The Human International Film Festival and Fritt Ord invite the public to the Norwegian premiere of the new documentary film ‘Myanmar Diaries’, followed by a talk session, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, 3 March at the Vega Scene in Oslo. Made by the Myanmar Film Collective, the film recently won the Berlinale Documentary Award.

Myanmar Diaries
Artistic resistance against the military coup in Myanmar.

Myanmar Diaries is a compilation of a number of documentary, fictionalised short films made by an anonymous group of young film-makers from Myanmar, where the military seized power on 1 February 2021. Stringing together personal stories from the time after the coup paints a dismal picture of the regime’s terror, at the same time as it is proof positive of the will to resist and the courage found among the people. The film offers a long-awaited update from Myanmar, which no longer figures in the headlines.
Directed by the Myanmar Film Collective, the film is a co-production between Myanmar, The Netherlands and Norway.

Myanmar Diaries

Talk session after the film:
Is Myanmar moving towards collapse – or a popular revolution?

A year has passed since the military carried out a coup, seizing back the power in Myanmar. The people of the country reacted to the coup with massive civil disobedience and large-scale, often creative demonstrations and protests in the streets. The international attention attracted by the first wave of protests, arrests and assaults, often against activists and journalists, has slowly dissipated. In large parts of the country, the protests have taken on the guise of a civil war-like situation, and many people have fled the country.
What is the situation in Myanmar today? Is there a united opposition, and will it be able to challenge the military regime and rebuild some form of democracy? Is Myanmar on the brink of total collapse or is there hope for a successful, popular revolution?

Participants:
Aye Chan Naing, editor, Democratic Voice of Burma
Marte Nilsen, senior researcher, PRIO
Petr Lom, producer

News

Call for nominations: Free Media Awards 2025

March 14 2025

In collaboration with the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS of Hamburg, the Fritt Ord Foundation has allocated the Free Media Awards annually since 2004 to Eastern European journalists and media that defy every obstacle to tirelessly ensure independent press coverage. Russia’s war against Ukraine and the subsequent wave of disinformation clearly demonstrates the need for independent reporting in the region. Journalist, editorial teams and media companies in and from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary who make a contribution to press freedom through their investigative, independent reporting can be nominated for the Free Media Awards.

Civitates' Tech & Democracy open call

March 6 2025

Civitates – The European Democracy Fund is a pooled philanthropic fund that was set up in 2018 for the sole purpose of addressing democratic decline and closing civic space in Europe. The case for confronting these threats is growing increasingly urgent. Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the initiators and partners of Civitates.

Civitates has launched its Tech and Democracy open call to support organisations working to ensure safer, more inclusive online spaces (social media platforms, search engines etc.) by improving the enforcement of EU tech regulations at the national level.

This open call offers a unique opportunity to strengthen civil society’s role in holding the tech sector accountable, with a focus on key EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act, GDPR, AI Act or the European Media Freedom Act to name a few.

Norwegians increasingly more positive to computer games

March 5 2025

Norwegians are increasingly more positive to accepting computer games as culture

About 17 per cent have developed a more favourable view of computer games over the past year. Six of ten play computer games, and one of three plays computer games weekly. At the same time, computer games are ranked as having lower status than books and music, for example.
“Computer games deserve more attention and discussion”, contends Joakim Lie of Fritt Ord.

– Computer games are also art

March 4 2025

“The problem with far too many media reports about computer games is that they start begin with sentences like: ‘computer games have come a long way since Pac-Man’,” sighs American computer game critic Jacob Geller.

“Let us first simply agree that computer games are indeed an art form and an expression of culture, and then let us examine the works as part of the history of art and culture.