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IDFA and IFFR call for immediate release of Myanmar filmmaker and festival director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi


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IDFA and IFFR issue a joint statement that calls for the immediate release of imprisoned Myanmar filmmaker and festival director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi. We urge you to read the statement and sign your name below.

We - filmmakers, film professionals, festivals, and organisations from around the world - are expressing our profound dismay at the recent detention of our fellow filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi and we are calling for his immediate release.

On 12 April 2019, filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi was arrested by the Myanmar authorities after being sued by a military officer for “insulting and defaming the Army.” Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi is a prominent filmmaker in Myanmar, and as such, an important voice in cinema in general. Additionally, Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi is the co-founder of the Human Rights Human Dignity Film Festival in Yangon.

After publishing various Facebook posts expressing public concern towards the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, he was detained and charged under two violations, both carrying a maximum prison sentence of two years. Recently, he has been denied bail and is now awaiting his trial scheduled on 25 April.

Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi’s physical health is currently very fragile, having been operated to treat liver cancer only three months ago.

We are gravely concerned for his health and fear for his life, should Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi be sentenced to imprisonment.

We therefore plead for compassion for his serious health condition, and call authorities in Myanmar for the immediate release of Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi and his right to bail on humanitarian grounds.

Signed,

  1. Orwa Nyrabia, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  2. Bero Beyer, International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  3. Simon Kilmurry, International Documentary Association, United States
  4. Melanie Iredale, Sheffield Doc/Fest, United Kingdom
  5. Keri Putnam, Sundance Institute, United States
  6. Tabitha Jackson, Sundance Institute, United States
  7. Karel Och, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic
  8. Gediminas Andriukaitis, Inconvenient Films, Lithuania
  9. Darya Bassel, Docudays UA, Ukraine
  10. Don Edkins, STEPS, South Africa
  11. Mario Friso, Festival des Libertés, Belgium
  12. Abdoulaye Gaye, AfricanBamba Human Rights Film Festival, Senegal
  13. Giulia Grassilli, Human Rights Nights, Italy
  14. Ondrej Kamenicky, One World, Czech Republic
  15. Ketil Magnussen, Human International Documentary Film Festival, Norway
  16. Vincent Mercier, Festival International du Film des Droits de l’Homme, France
  17. Maciej Nowicki, Watch Docs, Poland
  18. Oksana Sarkisova, Verzio Film Festival, Hungary
  19. Richard Warden, Document Human Rights Film Festival, United Kingdom
  20. Kelsey Jones, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands
  21. Canan Turan, Filmmaker, Germany
  22. Sam Soko, Lightbox Africa, Kenya
  23. Judy Wolfe, POV Magazine, Canada
  24. Mark Cousins, Belfast Film Festival, Ireland
  25. Nina Marczan, Filmmaker, Germany
  26. Yamac Okur, SE-YAP (Film Producers’ Association of Turkey), Turkey
  27. Mariia Ponomarova, Documentary filmmaker, Ukraine/The Netherlands
  28. Alex Lee, Doc Edge, New Zealand
  29. Veton Nurkollari, DokuFest, Kosovo
  30. Igor Blazevic, One World Human Rights Film Festival, Czech Republic
  31. Claire Aguilar, IDA, USA
  32. Petr Lom, ZIN Documentaire B.V., Netherlands
  33. Angelica Cabezas Pino, The University of Manchester, Chile
  34. Barbora Hudeckova, One World, Czech Republic
  35. Natalia María Solórzano, Vásquez, Aguacero Cine, Costa Rica
  36. Tareq Ahmed, DHAKA DOCLAB, Bangladesh
  37. Julie Trébault, PEN America - Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), United States of America
  38. Shane Smith, Hot Docs, Canada
  39. Alyx Ayn Arumpac, Philippines
  40. Lindsey Kennedy, TePonui Media, UK
  41. Agustina Comedi, Filmmaker, Argentina
  42. Shune Lei Thar, HDFI, Myanmar
  43. Mariana Oliva, Docsp, Brazil
  44. Dr Jane M Ferguson, The Australian National University, Australia
  45. Luis Gonzalez Zaffaroni, DocMontevideo, Uruguay
  46. Darya Averchenko, IDFF Docudays UA, Ukraine
  47. Mary, filmmaker, Myanmar
  48. Htet Htet Aung, Freelance, Myanmar
  49. Marek Hovorka, Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic
  50. Htet Htet Aung, Freelance, Myanmar
  51. Corinne Simon-Duneau, Lexis International Translations, United States
  52. Pandav Khatri Paudel Chhetri, Nepal human rights international film festival, Nepal
  53. Pyae Zaw Phyo, Human Dignity Film Institute, Yangon, Myanmar
  54. Torstein Parelius, UpNorth Film, Norway
  55. Martijn te Pas, IDFA, The Netherlands
  56. Bo Thet Htun, Human Diginity Film Institute, Myanmar
  57. Michael Suantak, BIT Myanmar, Myanmar
  58. Aung Chan Lu, Khin Si Yin kwin Film Production, Myanmar (Yangon)
  59. Joëlle Ducray, Festival Île Courts, Mauritius
  60. Bob Niemack, International Documentary Association, United States
  61. Ela Bittencourt, Film Program Advisor, Brazil
  62. Brett Hendrie, Hot Docs, Canada
  63. Raul Nino Zambrano, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  64. Saif Fradj, CineRif festival’s director, Tunisia
  65. Mg Mg Tha Myint, Nut & Butter production, Myanmar
  66. Gema Juárez Allen, Gema Films, Argentina
  67. Carla Navarro Cepero, IN-EDIT Music Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  68. John Biaggi, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, United States
  69. Hana Vojackova, artist, filmmaker, United Kingdom / Czech Republic
  70. Violet Du Feng, Fish + Bear Film Studio, USA
  71. Lorna Tee, paperheart, Malaysia
  72. Paulina Suarez, Ambulante, Mexico
  73. Connie Bottinelli, President, Grinning Dog Pictures, United States
  74. Beadie Finzi, Doc Society, UK
  75. Isabel Arrate Fernandez, IDFA Bertha Fund, the Netherlands
  76. Laura van Halsema, IDFA, Netherlands
  77. Elisabeth van Bennekom, A titre personnel, The Netherlands
  78. Ye Lin Aung, HDFI, Myanmar
  79. Iwana Chronis, Netherlands Film Fund, The Netherlands
  80. Molly Murphy, Working Films, United States
  81. Mónica Hernández Rejón, Stockholm Latin American Film Festival, Sweden
  82. Brent E. Huffman, Northwestern University, United States
  83. Amy Hobby, Tribeca Film Institute, United States
  84. Chris Mcdonald, Hot Docs, Canada
  85. Saskia Gravelijn, IFFR and IDFA, The Netherlands
  86. Michiel Berkel, Amstelfilm, The Netherlands
  87. Matthew Holzman, KCRW’s The Document, United States
  88. Dragos Turea, Parmis Film, Moldova
  89. Emilie Bujès, Visions du Réel International Film Festival, Nyon, Switzerland
  90. Guevara Namer, independent, Syria
  91. Diana Elbaum, Beluga Tree, Belgium
  92. Dora Bouchoucha, Nomadis.images, Tunisia
  93. Viviane Ferreira, APAN - Association of Black Audiovisual Professionals, Brasil
  94. Rachel Wexler, Producer, United Kingdom
  95. Bruno Dequen, RIDM, Canada
  96. Jelte Zonneveld, IDFA, The Netherlands
  97. Katrine Kiilgaard, CPH:DOX, Denmark
  98. May Nyane, Writer, United States
  99. Daniel Cross, Concordia University, Canada
  100. Steven Markovitz, Big World Cinema, South Africa
  101. Daphné Rozat, Festival du Film et Forum International sur les Droits Humains, Switzerland
  102. Sander van Bussel, Human Rights Tattoo, Netherlands
  103. Yasin Ali Türkeri, BSB (The Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey), Turkey
  104. Amir Ramses, El gouna film festival, Egypt
  105. Elhum Shakerifar, Hakawati, United Kingdom
  106. Moses S Nyein Chan Tha, Filmmaker, Myanmar
  107. Oliver Sertic, Restart, Croatia
  108. Cat Villiers, Autonomous, United Kingdom
  109. Ivan Janakat, JFC, Jordan
  110. Kristine Skaret, Stray Dog Productions, Norge
  111. Gary Byung-Seok Kam, Mirror & Story, Korea
  112. Shamira Raphaëla, filmmaker, The Netherlands
  113. Juan Pablo González, California Institute of the Arts, USA / MEXICO
  114. Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Director, Bertha Foundation, USA
  115. Huillard Kann Christilla, Elda, France
  116. Rachel Leah Jones, Home Made Docs, Israel
  117. Marjorie Sturm, Independent filmmaker, United States
  118. Diana Chiawen Lee, Human, Taiwan
  119. Projekt Independent Filmmaker, India
  120. Taco Ruighaver, Happiness Foundation & Power of Art House, The Netherlands
  121. Fleur van Dissel, Visual Communication, Netherlands
  122. Nikola Tacevski, Freelance photographer, Germany
  123. Ramon Domingo Virrey, RDV Films, Philippines
  124. Yakoubi Tudor, France
  125. Ulla Simonen, AVEK, Finland
  126. Selina Crammond, DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Canada
  127. Peter Zach, PZFberlin, Deutschland
  128. Pekka Lanerva, Helsinki International Film Festival ry, Finland
  129. Thanos Stavropoulos, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Greece
  130. Orestis Andreadakis, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Greece
  131. Julie Karova, One World Film Festival, Czech Republic
  132. Tamara Van Strijthem, Take One Action Film Festival, United Kingdom
  133. KHINE ZAN WAI, Individual, MYANMAR
  134. Sofie Lykke Stenstrop, Final Cut for Real, Schweiz
  135. Adrienne Kleiweg, Actress, Netherlands
  136. Pavel Ananich, Destevetter, Netherlands
  137. Olimpia Pont, Film consultant, Spain
  138. Melissa Lindgren, Tempo Dokumentär Festival, Sverige
  139. Ali Remmelts, Movies that Matter Festival, The Hague, Netherlands
  140. Masha Trebukova, Artist, The Netherlands
  141. Katja Gauriloff, Filmmaker, Finland
  142. Joëlle Alexis, JA, Belgium
  143. Ismail Basbeth, Bosan Berisik Lab, Indonesia
  144. Dirk van der Straaten, Movies that Matter, Netherlands
  145. Jean-Michel Frodon, Film critic and professor, France
  146. Alex Kauffmann, Freelance, France
  147. Sebastian Thelander Sjöstrand, Cinema Queer, Sweden
  148. Thet Oo Maung, One Step Human Rights Film Festival, Myanmar
  149. Dardenne luc, Les films du fleuve, Belgium
  150. Patricia Mazuy, director, France
  151. Arnaud des Pallières, filmmaker, France
  152. Julia Yudelman, International Documentary Film Festival, The Netherlands



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