Last Updated on August 4, 2018
We want the fighting to stop. We want the fear to end. We want our lives Back. We want self-determination and we want peace.
Cease! Fire! is a heart-wrenching and yet inspiring documentary film about the Indigenous Karen People of eastern Burma, and their continued struggle for peace and freedom on the land they know as “Kawthoolei,” which means, “the land of peace.”
For the past 55 years, ever since Burma’s military overthrew the civilian government, the Karen have known little more than terror and oppression.
However, there is a deep-seeded hope among the Karen that, as tragic and painful as things have been, one day they will again know peace.
To that end, in 2004 a group of Karen leaders attempted to form a ceasefire agreement with the current military regime. Though the agreement was signed, the regime took advantage of the ceasefire to oppress the Karen and encroach on their lands even further.
Produced by the indigenous Karen film group, Kaw lah films, Cease! Fire! examines the events surrounding the agreement, from the perspective of Karen themselves.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
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Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
