[10/22/2025] Film Screening – Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar

What happens when non-violent leaders are pushed to support armed struggle against a brutal regime in a forgotten war?

Myanmar is one of the deadliest conflict areas in the world, yet there is little international attention paid to the ongoing brutal oppression there, and to the courageous resistance to it. Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar follows four democracy revolutionaries who are finding creative means to fight against the military junta. Some take up arms while struggling to stay true to their commitment to non-violence, while others engage in “artivism,” using music, poetry and art to bring about a peaceful, free, democratic and truly inclusive future for all people in Myanmar.

THE ARTIST

Susanna Hla Hla Soe

An elected minister in the shadow government, Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe is a painter and advocate for women and children affected by conflict.

THE POET

Maung Saungkha

Beloved poet and renowned free speech activist, Maung Saungkha now leads the first Bamar ethnic army from the jungles of Myanmar.

THE MUSICIAN 

Phoe San

Musician and composer, Phoe San harnesses the expressive power of music to support the revolution and heal trauma for those impacted by war.

THE ORGANIZER 

Thet Swe Win

Human rights activist Thet Swe Win is an “artivist” organizing events for painters, poets and musicians to share the soft power of creativity in the revolution.

About the Speakers

Myra Dahgaypaw is the Senior Partnership Officer for International Justice and Accountability at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and a member of the US Campaign for Burma’s board of directors.  For over 20 years, she has advanced U.S. Burma policy, promoted human rights and inclusive democracy, and supported the Burmese diaspora in the U.S.

Naw Lar Say Waa is a journalist, researcher, and storyteller from Burma/Myanmar’s borderlands. Her work spans journalism, research, and advocacy; amplifying voices from conflict-affected communities.

About the Moderator

Christina Fink oversees the MA in International Development Studies Program and teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses on international development.

She received her B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social/Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley.

She has combined research, teaching, and international development work throughout her career. Primarily based in mainland Southeast Asia from 1995-2010, her full-time positions and program evaluation consultancies addressed civil society capacity building in Myanmar with particular attention to gender and social inclusion, and political, economic, and social reforms. During this time, she also wrote Living Silence in Burma: Surviving Under Military Rule (Zed Books: 1st edition 2001, 2nd edition 2009) and served as a lecturer and program associate at the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute in Thailand.

In recent years she has contributed to the development of the GenderPro capacity-building and credentialing program run by GW’s Global Women’s Institute in partnership with UNICEF. She also served on the United States Institute of Peace senior study group on Myanmar which produced two reports: China’s Role in Burma’s Internal Conflicts (2018) and Anatomy of the Military Coup and Recommendations for the US Response (2022). Her latest publications have addressed the position of religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar, anti-Muslim violence and the role of Facebook, and the many facets of civil society engagement in development in Myanmar.