Private Project

Opium War

In the Kachin State of Myanmar, more than half of the youth is addict on opium, sold with the help of a corrupted police. Citizens decide to fight with the dealers by themselves through a militia, but they will face not only drug dealers armed like an army, but also opium field owners or the government that doesn’t care about the Kachin state, since it’s a Catholic area in a Buddhist country.

  • John La Raw
    Director
    Ma Ma
  • John La Raw, Brang Mai
    Producer
    Ma Ma
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    52 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Myanmar
  • Country of Filming:
    Myanmar
  • Language:
    Other
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Panda Media
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
  • Producer
    Country: Myanmar
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - John La Raw

Born in the catholic Kachin state in Myanmar, John La Raw has been a catholic priest, a radio announcer and a writer before being a filmmaker. He shot a documentary, Opium War, that he edited during a couple of years until a 52 minutes version in 2019. Meanwhile, he mastered in filmmaking at Chungang University in Seoul and shoot his first feature Ma Ma in Myanmar, with the help of his Korean classmates.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My country is the second in the world for opium production (after Afghanistan) and where i was born, the Kachin state, 10% of the whole population is considered as a drug addict. The response by the central government and local authorities to this tragedy is very inadequate. Corruption is a big problem in Myanmar, and many representatives of government agencies and the Army also profit from the drug trade. In consequence, drug producers and traffickers appear to have been given a free hand. I could not stand this situation yet I've seen that hopefully, some citizens were starting to rise and make a war on drugs. I followed them to have my part in this fight for our country.