I AM GOLDEN KAREN
Maui Druez, Preben Verledens | Thailand, Belgium 2018 | 83 Min. | OmeU
More than 65 million people around the world are displaced from their homes, the largest number since the second world war. For the Karen people from southeast Burma, the Rohingya-crisis brings memory of what they experienced some 15 years ago. Aggressive operations from the Burmese military caused over 400.000 displaced Karen people. When the British left Burma about 60 years ago, the Burmese government embarked on a still ongoing civil war against the many ethnic minorities in the country, including the Karen people. As a result, many Karen fled to neighbouring Thailand. In order to survive, they started working in the border town of Mae Sot or in the Thai capital Bangkok.
I am golden Karen tells the story of Thaawa, a young Karen rapper, who is part of an entire generation that has grown up in Thailand, but nurtures a strong desire to return to their motherland. We follow Thaawa as he negotiates his identity from being a young migrant arriving in Bangkok to becoming a father. He questions his responsibilities towards the family and his desire to both settle in Thailand and return to Karen State
Director: Maui Druez, Preben Verledens
Camera: Maui Druez & Preben Verledens
Editing: Beppe Leonetti
Sound: Simon Carlier
Producer: Steven Dhoedt
Filmography
I AM GOLDEN KAREN (2018) is their debut film.
BIography
Maui Druez graduated from the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema & Sound in Brussels and now works as an independent documentary lmmaker.. She is finishing a master in social & cultural anthropology. In her work, she focuses on subjects like gender, migration, forced labor, displacement and further investigates questions of identity and belonging.
Preben Verledens is a documentary lmmaker and editor. He looks at visual storytelling as an emergent method for social practice and tries to incorporate documentary into all aspects of everyday life.
