Synopsis

In Kayah State, Myanmar, for over 60 years, different ethnic armed groups have been fighting the Burmese Army in a war for freedom and independence. A group of war veterans have opened an artificial leg workshop constructing a hundred legs per year for fellow veterans with the same stroke of fate - leaving ethnic differences behind.

Director

• 

  Khon Soe Moe Aung
  

  My Leg (2015)

  For over sixty years, my home of Kayah State in Myanmar has been engaged in civil war. This conflict has led to many kinds of human rights abuses; the people of Kayah have lost the right to freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of work and freedom to practice their beliefs, to name a few. Prolonged civil war has meant that a whole generation has been isolated; this is a generation that does not have access to decent educational opportunities, healthcare, or ways of making a decent living amongst many other things. Everyone involved in the conflict is sick of war: both the soldiers of various ethnic armed groups but also the Burmese Army. Everyone in Kayah yearns for peace and for the well-being of our society and future generations.
  A group of soldiers of the former Karenni Nationalities People Liberation Front’s (KNPLF) have set up an artificial limb workshop near the city of Loikaw. Here they make artificial legs for people who have lost their legs as a result of the fighting – regardless of which side of the conflict they were on. The people who run the workshop are also amputees. These men really inspired me. In the past, soldiers from ethnic groups such as the KNPLF and the KNPP (Karenni National Progressive Party) and Burmese soldiers fought each other bitterly; many lost their lives. Those who lost limbs now come to this prosthetics workshop. They show empathy towards each other and help each other overcome their disabilities. I believe that making a film is a powerful way to express the desire for peace. We don’t need words because we can see in the faces of the protagonists just how much they want peace – as does everyone in Kayah.

Review

This documentary shows the short process of manufacturing prosthetic legs for injured soldiers, and the soldiers wearing prosthetic loges in a simplistic way, but it leaves a complicated and weird sensation on its audiences. The injured soldiers in this film are members of the insurgent resistance army who fights against Burma governmental army. This insurgent army is not a single organization, but constituted with groups of various ethnicities. The ex-servicemen hold a workshop for making prosthetic legs, make injured soldiers participate in the manufacturing process, and give prosthetic legs to those soldiers for free regardless of their ethnicity. While dealing with extremely sensitive topic in terms of politics, the atmosphere of the film is warm and usual. This film is a peculiar cinematic experience which brings usual sense on nonusual-ness, grotesque feeling, and kind mood altogether. [Hwang Miyojo]

Credits

• Director  Khon Soe Moe Aung
• Producer  Lindsey Merrison
• Cinematographer  Naw Eh Shee Paw
• Editor  Zin Mar Oo
• Sound  Bawk Seng

Contribution / World Sales

• Contribution / World Sales  Johanna Huth
• Phone  49 30 95614327
• E-mail  huth@yangonfilmschool.org
• Website  http://yangonfilmschool.org