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Our Burmese Days
Lindsey Merrison | Germany | 1995 | 90 min. | documentary

In George Orwell's novel Burmese Days, he describes how his British protagonist is destroyed for his transgressions against both race and class. In her film, Merrison set out to explore further what it meant to live uncomfortably between different cultures and classes by documenting her voyage with her mother and uncle from England to the land of their birth, Burma. Affectionate recollections and reunions are contrasted with strongly felt distaste for Burmese life and traditions as the two visitors piece together the fragments of the life they left behind. Our Burmese Days sheds fascinating light on a little-known country while reminding us that some of the strangest things we encounter are often those that lie closest to home.

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Lindsey Merrison
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lars Barthel

American Premiere, 1996 Human Rights Watch Festival. Distributed by Lindsey Merrison, Bissingzeile 11, D-10785 Berlin, Germany, Tel: 011-49-30-262-1387 Fax: 011-49-30-262-8623.

Lindsey Merrison


Writer-director Lindsey Merrison was born in Hemel Hempstead, England in 1959. She graduated in English and film studies from the University of Kent at Canterbury in 1981. In 1982, she moved to Berlin. She has worked as film programmer, translator, journalist, and assistant director. She formed a production company for documentaries in 1988. Our Burmese Days is her fifth production and her first documentary as director.

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL