TOTAL DENIAL d: Milena Kaneva
Total Denial (2006)
Director: Milena Kaneva
The destruction of democracy in Myanmar (or Burma) is well known. The brutal behavior of the military is equally familiar, but the extent and consequences of that behavior have rarely been shown to such chilling effect as in Milena Kaneva’s Total Denial.
Watching the personal accounts — clearly obtained under dangerous circumstances — presented in Kaneva’s documentary, one is brought face to face with the cruelty of Myanmar’s military junta. A defector, for instance, describes how he was forced to leave the military so as to avoid maiming and killing innocent people. Evidence of torture, murder, and the wanton destruction of homes is plainly displayed.
Yet, in the face of all this evidence, smartly dressed lawyers representing UNOCAL and TOTAL have been trying to deny the atrocities committed while belittling the individuals who have dared to bring them to court for the slavery, rape, murder, and torture of villagers who stood "in the way of progress" during the construction of the Yadana natural gas pipeline from Burma to Thailand, near the Andaman Sea.
In order to help international audiences relate to the events portrayed in Total Denial, Kaneva gradually immerses us into the local indigenous culture. The magic of local sounds, be it a young singer singing a folk song or the tolling of golden bells, are used for this familiarization, while images of children playing and interacting with their families in their undamaged natural environment are supposed to appeal to our sympathies. In contrast, the awe in which many of us hold global business empires is also highlighted, thus exposing our participation as shareholders, whether de facto or in spirit, in the events depicted in the film.
One of the most effective strands of this story is the contribution of Ka Hsaw Wa and his wife Katie, who have led a successful bid to force the corporate powers to face the reality of their compliance. Having resisted peer pressure to take up arms, Ka Hsaw Wa has instead opted to document the atrocities the military have committed in the name of progress. By bringing those crimes to the attention of the world, his efforts have had a devastating effect.
As long as affluent multinational corporations choose to ignore unpleasant activities occurring at the base of their towering empires, heinous crimes against humanity will remain unchallenged. Total Denial, however, demonstrates that there is a way not only to challenge those crimes, but also to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Total Denial will be screened at London’s 11th Human Rights Watch Film Festival. For more information about the film festival contact: tel: 02089798628 email: londonff at hrw dot org.
© Rosemary Westwell
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HOT HOUSE (2006) by Shimon Dotan: Film Review
PUNAM (2005) by Lucian Muntean: Film Review
ROSITA (2005) by Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater: Film Review
CARLA’S LIST (2006) by Michael Schüpbach: Film Review
More on London’s Human Rights Watch festival
300 (2007) by Zack Snyder: Film Review
THE RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS 7 (1980) by John Sayles
CARLA’S LIST (2006) by Michael Schüpbach: Film Review
THE ULTIMATE GIFT (2007) by Michael O. Sajbel: Film Review
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