Punk rock frequently flaunts its rebel roar but its default anti-authority stance is given new meaning in Yangon Calling, a documentary about the historic Burmese capital’s small but enthusiastic punk scene during the last months of military rule.
The idea was sparked by co-director Alexander Dluzak’s 2009 visit to the city, when he found himself on the street with a group of punks. Interest piqued, he found footage of a local underground concert on YouTube and then returned to the country for seven weeks of filming with partner Carsten Piefke.
The documentary introduces a number of memorable characters, from Ko Nyan, the country’s first punk who runs the city’s only punk store, to Jamani, one of the few female punks, who is forced to stop performing or risk being kicked out of her family home.
Punk was introduced to the country by sailors in the 1990s, and while pop and hip-hop reign supreme, the country’s punk scene is larger than those of nearby Vietnam and Thailand.
“What surprised me was they were so 100 percent punk,” says Dluzak. “They looked like Piccadilly Circus in the early 80s and they knew every band and every book related to punk.
“Attitude was really important. To them, punk was a way to protest against this regime and a way to show their opinion without getting punished for it. You won’t be punished for being a punk, even in Myanmar.”
It is still a revolutionary statement. Punks in the city only number in the hundreds and their colorful mohawks and handmade clothes ripped straight out of 1977 are greeted by dumbfounded stares and sarcastic quips.
The most memorable figure is Scum. Bleach blond and rail-thin, he’s a classic romantic punk full of contradictions. His mother was a university professor but he’s one of the few punks to serve hard time – six years in jail for smoking a spliff. He mixes nihilistic views on daily reality with wistful admissions of dreams of freedom.
Six months after the Berlin-based filmmakers left the country with the footage tucked away in their dirty laundry, Myanmar surprisingly began to open up under new president Thein Sein.
The film benefited from Myanmar’s presence in the news, screening at over a dozen international film festivals. A 45-minute edit aired on German television and the documentary has been adapted into a book.
While Scum is upset, declaring the film as “complete bullshit and full of lies,” the rest of the participants were pleased. One band, the indie tinged Side Effects, were invited to open for German punk giants Die Artze in front of 20,000 people last year.
Despite the continued skepticism of the local punks about Myanmar’s liberalization efforts, the country is changing. Piefke recently returned for a trip, and Dluzak implores travelers to do the same.
“The country had been isolated for 40 years and it’s like Thailand in the 1970s,” he says. “In five years it will be different, so hurry up.”
// Beijing: Mar 11, 7:30pm, RMB50-60, MOMA Auditorium, North area of Dongzhimen MOMA, 1 Xiangheyuan Lu, Dongzhimen, Chaoyang 朝阳区东直门香河园路1号, 万国城北区（二环路东北角) (8438 8258)
// Shanghai: Mar 12, 7.30pm, RMB50-60. Minsheng Art Museum, Bldg F, Red Town, 570 Huaihai Xi Lu, by Hongqiao Lu 淮海西路570, 近虹桥路 (www.juefestival.com)
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