Into the Current: Burma's Political Prisoners

Into The Current tells the story of Burma's unsung heroes - its prisoners of conscience - and the price they pay for speaking truth to power in a military dictatorship.

Bo Kyi, was once a political prisoner himself in Burma. Now living in exile just across the border in Thailand, his life remains bound to his more than 2,000 prisoner colleagues who are still behind bars. Some are his close friends, including the poet and inspirational leader Min Ko Naing, comedian Zarganar and musician Win Maw. As his friends have fallen silent in remote jails, Bo Kyi has taken on the dangerous work of operating a secretive yet enormously effective underground network of practical supports for them and their families and taking their stories to the international arena.

A reluctant leader, Bo Kyi is a hard man to know. The winner of many human rights awards, he dislikes the limelight. A friendship spanning a decade allows filmmaker Jeanne Hallacy to follow the man, his motivations and his cause.

The film highlights the plight of Burma’s political prisoners and their efforts to free the country from dictatorship, through rare archival footage filmed by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and historical scenes of Aung San Suu Kyi as the visionary leader of the country's non-violent movement.

It depicts exiles who are continuing the political struggle; songwriter Khun Saing’s bittersweet refugee life, Zarganar’s vaudeville troupe and other former prisoners whose humour, courage and refusal to be silenced remain little known.

While they and countless others fight on, the dream of a free Burma remains alive.