DANCING WITH DICTATORS is a film about Burma and the battle for control of a newspaper. Central to the story is Australian publisher Ross Dunkley who owns The Myanmar Times. Like all media in Myanmar the newspaper is heavily censored. The government has forced a 51% partner on Dunkley and after the first election in 20 years their enmity explodes. Dunkley is arrested and imprisoned as his Immigration charges turn into a sexual smear campaign. His partner takes control and the government moves towards ending any foreign ownership of the Burmese media.
A government-funded art gallery due to be constructed in Darwin’s CBD is the scene of debate, with two supreme court judges insisting that the development regulator turn down the proposal.
Here I was in beautiful, beguiling Myanmar, about to start a month-long trial at its best-known newspaper, but finding a friendly face wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped.
Here I was in beautiful, beguiling Myanmar, about to start a month-long trial at its best-known newspaper, but finding a friendly face wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped.