My colleague, Eszter could not come to the U Win Tin interview because the locals thought she is like a sore thumb with her red hear and could be easily identified. On the other hand, we did not want to show up at the same place at the same time since in case we got discovered, there would be total loss - both our covers would be compromised, we loose our footage and possibly get arrested. We agreed, in case I get caught, we wont be heroes or heroines - Eszter would leave the country with the next morning flight as she could help me better from the outside than from Burma.

The tapes had to be removed from the scene before the "Old Man" left because we suspected that it is less likely that anyone would break into the room and search us while he was there, considering U Win Tin's respected persona, his 80 years and position. According to our local helpers it was more likely that "they" would try to find out what the old man was doing there and knock on the door after he left. It was important that they would only find a sleepy tourist when they came, with and empty tape in the camera.

The interview could only be done in the last minute so we would not arise suspicion that the same person has booked two rooms for the same night but has not slept in one of them (we could not have done the interview in the hotel we slept in, since the personnel has got to know us already and a "tourist" changing rooms constantly would have arisen suspicion - you need a passport every time you book - and we could not stay at the scene of the interview too long) What's more, we could not film any longer after this meeting, our local helpers would have liked it most if the interview would have been done at dawn, just before going to the airport, but this was not possible.

Win Tin is a walking miracle. He is 80, has spent 20 years in jail where he was tortured regularly, at the end of the tenth year he had no teeth left (they were knocked out) and was allowed a prothesis only years later. As and when they could, they would humiliate him, tried to erase this outspoken opposition figure from people's minds, from his own mind. But he knew exactly that after they took everything from him (at the age of 80 he now lives at friends houses and does not spend more than a week in one place before moving on) he has only his goal he fought for all his life left and if he would loose faith or loose his mind, he would really have nothing left. He had newspapers smuggled in and would read them over and over again, did math, memorized poems and kept himself alive with the hope that one day he would be free and so would his country.

Burma was free for only moments in time in the last decades and centuries when its people could taste freedom.  Only fifteen years after being freed from under British colonial rule, came the generals. It has been nearly 50 years since. The military dictatorship has oppressed every rebellion and than proceeded to change the past - street names, capital city, news, and newspapers - and with it the future too. "Old Man" U Win Tin does not have much hope for the elections this fall. His party, the NLD (National League for Democracy) is not entering the elections, as the prerequisite for that would be denouncing the party's leader, Nobel Laureate Aug San Suu Kyi and all the nearly two thousand political detainees. According to U Win Tin this would only undermine the party, that is why the election laws were brought in and they cannot allow for this to happen, they need to wait. Maybe in four years time, he says as if normal elections were held in Burma. The last elections were held twenty years ago when U Win Tin's party won with overwhelming majority, but the military regime simply ignored the results and everything went on as before, only maybe even worse. Win Tin talks as if he lived in a normal world. Maybe because he has no other choice.

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