Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar - A film screening and panel discussion

Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar - A film screening and panel discussion

Join us for a screening of Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar (2025), a powerful documentary exploring how artists and activists continue to resist military rule following Myanmar’s 2021 coup.

Five years after the military coup in Myanmar, the country's people continue to live through one of the most protracted crises in the contemporary Asia-Pacific. Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar is a feature documentary by award-winning filmmaker Jeanne Hallacy that follows four extraordinary figures shaping Myanmar's people-power revolution: violinist Phoe San, NUG Minister Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, poet Maung Saungkha, and activist Thet Swe Win.

The film opens a window into the impossible choices facing those who resist. Some take up arms while struggling to remain true to their commitment to non-violence. Others turn to "artivism" - using music, poetry, and art to imagine a peaceful, democratic, and inclusive future - for all the peoples of Myanmar. What happens when non-violent leaders are pushed to support armed struggle against a brutal regime in a forgotten war?

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion bringing together scholarly, policy, and lived experience perspectives on the film and on Myanmar's continuing struggle. Confirmed panellists include Associate Professor Sean Turnell, former senior economic adviser to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who was imprisoned in Myanmar for 650 days following the 2021 coup. The audience will also hear directly from figures featured in the film, joining the panel via Zoom from the region.

This event is hosted by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC), University of Sydney, in partnership with members of the Sydney Burmese community.

All welcome. Light refreshments to follow.

Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar (2025), 62 minutes, Kirana Productions.

When: 23 June 2026, 5:00–7:00 PM Sydney (AEST) / 2:00–4:00 PM Thailand (ICT)
Where: The University of Sydney, Social Sciences Building (A02), Seminar Room 650