 How did fifteen Burmese villagers bring a lawsuit against a huge international oil corporation in U.S. court -- and win?
In this fascinating chronicle of a landmark David vs. Goliath legal case, filmmaker Milena Kaneva reveals the plight of Burma/Myanmar's rural population, treated abominably, by the US-owned, regime-sanctioned petrochemical companies Total and Unocal. The film's hero, Ka Hsaw Wa, a university student turned human rights campaigner, emerges as a visionary hero. This is a story that demands to be heard.
"Gutsy, crude and ultimately graceful... doc provides gratifying proof that justice and the law aren't yet mutually exclusive, and like its disparate protagonists it maintains a fierce clarity."
--TIME OUT NEW YORK
"One thing is unmistakable: Its central figure, Ka Hsaw Wa, is the stuff heroes are made of."
-Laura Kern, NEW YORK TIMES
"It's not usually good for a documentary to engage in hero worship, but Milena Kaneva's film is about someone who justifies the term: Ka Hsaw Wa, a soft-spoken crusader who has devoted his life to detailing human rights abuses The film is inspiring and infuriating in equal measure: its subject's courage and fortitude are awe-inspiring -- but, then, so is the hypocrisy and callousness of those on the other side"
-Adam Nayman, TORONTO EYE WEEKLY
"Only if people around the world know the truth is there any chance for change.
A film like this makes it happen." --President Vaclav Havel
AWARDS: Vaclav Havel Award for Human Right
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