Total Denial

In 1992, two Western oil companies, TOTAL and UNOCAL, enter a joint venture with the Burmese military junta about the building of a gas pipe in the country. The army is forcing the local population into slave labour, burns villages, rapes, tortures and kills. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing into the jungle to avoid the abuse. Some of the victims later sue UNOCAL in the US, demanding compensation for the damages the company has inflicted upon them.

For five years, Milena Kaneva has documented the abuse the Yadana project inflicts upon the Burmese villages. Her guide on the journey is Ka Hsaw Wa, a man whose relentless conviction gives us hope about what individuals can achieve. cvj