In 1962, Burma’s government was overthrown in a coup d’état that ushered in the past half-century of harsh military rule. A year later, Myo Myint, a Burmese soldier-turned-dissident, was born. His story, which forms the backbone of Burma Soldier, is inseparable from the story of his troubled homeland—told here with archival footage smuggled out of the country. The two narratives blend seamlessly together in this evocative film. Myint joined the military as a teenager and was responsible for clearing mines from battlefields. During a fight against an indigenous ethnic minority Burma’s rulers deemed enemies of the state, Myint was hit by an artillery shell and lost an arm and a leg. After recovering and being discharged, he began to question his commanders’ motives and soon opened a small library of banned books and pamphlets. He became involved in the 1988 protests led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and, after addressing a political rally, was arrested and jailed for fifteen years. Upon his release, he escaped to a refugee camp in northern Thailand (where the bulk of his interviews for this film are shot) and watched yet another dark era in Burma’s history unfold as the military rulers put down the 2007 protests and refused international aid in the wake of a 2008 typhoon. However, the film ends on a positive note as Myint embarks on another improbable chapter of his life.  AK