most famous comedian--he is also a popular film actor and director, as well as a fierce critic. But for the last two years, the man who once entertained Burma's oppressed masses has only had an audience of fellow prisoners. For the "crime" of cracking wicked puns against the inept and corrupt junta while working as a volunteer providing disaster relief aid in areas of the Irrawaddy Delta that were ravaged by Cyclone Nargis, Zarganar was arrested, convicted of "public order offenses" and sentenced to 59 years in prison--later reduced to 35 years. However, British filmmaker Rex Bloomstein recently helped Zarganar reach a wider audience by featuring the Burmse comedian in his new documentary, "This Prison Where I Live," that just screened in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand.
from The Irrawaddy: Documentary Highlights Plight of Imprisoned Burmese Comedian
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