The Flying Circus Project, 2013!

Thu Thu: We always have a problem to shoot in the country. Whenever we shoot in the street or someone’s house, we need the permission to shoot.

Thaiddhi: When we speak of documentary and truth, the government is quite worried.

Thu Thu: When the government opened the film school in 2007, we  immediately joined the school so we could get the student card, so we could shoot in the street. So that is how we sustained ourselves.

Thaiddhi: But since Burma VJ came out, the government is looking for anyone with a camera. Everybody with a camera is a danger to them.

APK: In my country we have two names: real name and pen name. Because in Myanmar, the names are very similar to each other, because most of the names are two or three words. 

Whenever I arrive in Singapore, one of my fake names is in the blacklist. So whenever I come to Singapore I need to answer so many questions. I am disappointed in the airport, because I have to wait two or three hours. They never record my passport number, only my name. And they say wait, go to the sofa, and ask me so many questions. Yesterday I also had that experience.

APK: After the 1988 uprising, I was one of the leaders and I was forced to retire. Also some of my engineering friends were also forced to retire. They moved to Singapore, Australia and other countries and they work as engineers. But I decided to be a full-time cartoonist. Because I believe in cartoons when I was young. Cartoons are very powerful and very effective. 

APK: In 2000 I visited Singapore, I went to Popular Bookshop, and I picked up a textbook. And the textbook was history. But the printed name wasn’t history. It was “Understanding Our Past”. That is very good. If you ask children what is history, they will say, it is not geography. But this is history. Understanding our past. This is easy to understand.

Ko Tar: We have to do it quietly. Because the monks were involved in 2007 protests, and the government has fear of this old society. If you are doing things with the monks, you have to be careful. They are concerned although it is apolitical... *apparently* apolitical.

Ko Tar: The last 50 years, what we are concerned with is about the military dictatorship. Now we have to work with market capitalism. 

You know in all other countries, in traditional Buddhist societies, the religious space becomes small. Firstly if you look into the history, there are three sectors. The state, business and religion. That space for religion is becoming smaller in other countries when there is market and industrialization set in. So in Japan, the Buddhism becomes funeral Buddhism. A few people are going to monasteries only when they are dead. 

We don’t know if our monasteries can resist or are resilent enough to resist that force. So I have told the monks, you yourselves have to adapt, have to accommodate, have to change yourself.

Ko Tar: When people ask me what is my religion, I say my religion is compassion. Actually our teacher trainers are mostly Christians.