2. After watching, think about these questions:
What questions do you still have?
What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?
3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: What can we learn from the life and story of the Burmese artist, activist and political prisoner San Zaw Htway?
4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)
5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.
6. To learn more, read “Our Friend Is Gone, but He Lives Through Our Resistance in Myanmar.” Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat, the filmmakers, write:
San Zaw Htway was an artist, activist, political prisoner and dear friend.
From 2013 to 2017, we lived and worked in Myanmar with San Zaw Htway, who spent 13 years — of a 36-year-sentence — imprisoned under harsh conditions. He died at the end of 2017 after a cancer diagnosis.
San Zaw Htway touched many lives, serving as a dedicated trauma counselor to former political prisoners and teaching children and refugees to make artwork using recycled materials, as he did when he was in prison. After the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, a Burmese friend wrote to us asking, “What would San Zaw Htway have done in a time like this?”
And so the idea for this short documentary was born.
We asked San Zaw Htway’s loved ones, some of whom are in hiding or are involved in the resistance, to write to him as an act of remembrance and a way of seeking solace and hope in the midst of the military’s brutal crackdown. This film is composed of their words, read by narrators to protect the identity of the writers.
Until the end of his life, San Zaw Htway retained his gentle wisdom and joy; his many years of suffering did not harden him to the world. As the people of Myanmar continue to live under violent military rule, we hope this film will shine a light on his legacy and the Burmese activists who have followed in his footsteps.
Want more student-friendly videos? Visit our Film Club column.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
