Aung San Suu Kyi - Lady of No Fear (Full Documentary)

We know Aung San Suu Kyi as "a golden bird in a cage"; she is a valuable icon representing freedom and democracy which the suppressed population of Burma much hopes for. In the West she stands out as a symbol of peace and reconciliation, she has been awarded countless prizes for her effort, among them the Nobel Peace Prize. But who is the person and woman behind it all? In this film, her close family, friends, and close colleagues tell about a daughter, a wife, a friend, a mother, and a rebel - that early in life met deep grief and deprivation.

But who is the person and woman behind it all? In this film, her close family, friends, and close colleagues tell about a daughter, a wife, a friend, a mother, and a rebel - that early in life met deep grief and deprivation. “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” Aung San Suu Kyi is known first and foremost as the political opposition leader at the center of 20 years of social unrest and turmoil in Burma. What many do not know is that she started out as a British housewife in the upper echelons of Oxford society before she went back to her oppressed homeland and joined the struggle for freedom. Since her return, she was held under house arrest for fifteen out of twenty-one years during which she had minimal contact with her family and closest relations. 'Lady of No Fear' offers a close-up of the freedom-fighting woman Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband, ‘her knight in shining armor Dr. Michael Aris, who died on his 53rd birthday in 1999, still unable to see his wife. Together they gave up their normal life and marriage for the cause of freedom in Burma. She comes across as charming, determined, and stoical in her decision to fight for her country at the expense of her family. The focus is on the personal consequences of such powerful idealism and conviction that the current regime can be toppled by peaceful means. The film is a tribute to the woman at the heart of the rebellion, her steadfast husband and supporter, and not least to Gandhi's vision of non-violent civic resistance.

by Anne Gyrithe Bonne