DVB Peace Documentary 2022 Award Winner 'Creatio' speaks about his short film "X, Y, Z and then A." It documents the Karenni people and their generations-long struggle for regional autonomy in Burma.

"My name is Creatio.

I produced the documentary film X,Y, Z and then A.

This movie tells the story of Karenni people displaced by conflict.

I traveled to Karenni State in 2018 and 2019.

Since then, I’ve learned alot about the Karenni people.

They have been suffering from Burma’s civil war, from generation to generation.

After the 2021 military coup, a huge number of people were displaced.

I think everyone should hear their stories.

That’s why I produced this documentary.

When anti-coup protests began, people started calling on Generation Z.

And then Generation Alpha are those who come after.

That’s how I got the idea for the name Generation X, Y, Z and then A.

Each new generation of the Karenni people have to face a never-ending conflict.

I interviewed refugees in Ban Mai Naing Soi refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border.

My main character, he arrived at the camp with his adopted parents in 1996.

He was only six years old when he arrived at the camp. And now, he has nieces and nephews.

I am very happy that I received the permission to document his story.

At first, I didn't think it would win the award from DVB. I am really excited to receive it.

But this kind of happiness is complicated.

It’s like we are all in this bad situation but something good happened.

And still, we don’t know how to get out of this situation.

It’s great that the audience knows this story now. I am happy about that.

The main reason I did this story is that I want more people to know about what's happening.

I would like to make it into a feature documentary, about 50 minutes long.

Because I would like to document each generation of his family.

A 15 minute film is a very short documentary.

When I edited it was very difficult for me to cut parts.

I wanted to show more emotion and how they have been suffering.

But I can only show 10 percent of this.

That’s why I want to produce a longer documentary with more details.

The DVB peace documentary I made is only 15 minutes long.

But I will be editing a longer version to submit to film festivals.

I will try to screen this film all over the world.

Right now, I am looking for a producer to help me with my documentaries."

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DVB English NewsBy Democratic Voice of BurmaAug 27, 2023