Director / Editor: Megumi Nishikura
"Chinlon" is a combination of sport and dance, a team sport with no opposing team. In essence chinlon is non-competitive, yet it’s as demanding as the most competitive ball games. The focus is not on winning or losing, but how beautifully one plays the game. (Wikipedia -- you guessed it)
Following the dramatic crackdown of anti-government protestors in October 2007, I had the idea of wanting to use something visually interesting and unusual to draw people's attention to the issue of Burma. Not in a dogmatic or preachy way (eg. some lectures or editorials), and certainly not in an annoying or brash way (eg. some public protests)...I wanted a use a non-confrontaional but fun & engaging way to interact with people on the street.
My idea: streetsport + politics
So another Burmaphile friend and I met with Burmese community members here in Tokyo and got together a small group of people who could play the traditional Burmese sport of Chinlon. Using that as our visual / physical hook, we combined it with a random public photo-taking session that was inspired by the web movement of www.dontforgetburma.org and the chance to chat one-on-one with those who were interested in learning more, and hit the well-trod pavements just beside Harajuku station on a sunny Sunday.
Thanks to the talents of photographer friend Zare and filmmaker friend Megumi, we've got the above images to share with you.
