Overview

The Road film is a story of 4 young surfers from San Diego California who embarked on a journey into a remote and closed country to uncover and document one of the worst cases of genocide in the history of the world. That journey took them through the jungles of Thailand and into Burma (Myanmar).

Burma was formerly a British colony until 1948 when they were forced out by a Japanese invasion. When the Japanese succeeded in forcing out the British, they were soon overthrown by their allies during the takeover; the Burmese. When the Burmese Military took over the central government in 1948 gaining their independence from the commonwealth while turning on their Japanese counterparts, they didn’t stop there.

Immediately after gaining independence, the Burmese Military made it very clear to the 6 major ethnic groups which make up the multifaceted region, if they wanted their freedom they were going to have to fight for it. Thus began the longest running war, and most horrifying cases of human rights abuses in the history of the world.

For nearly 60 years now the Military Junta has been on a mission to rid the world of the beautiful diversity of ethnic minorities throughout their country. Of those ethnic groups, the Juntas main focus has been against the Karen people. Since the Karen are large in number, and stand relentlessly for freedom, the Burmese military have taken aggressive measures to eradicate the Karen from the history books. The current leader of the Junta was recently quoted saying, “If you would like to see a Karen person in the near future, you will need to go to a museum.”

This is the story of the Karen people, their lives, their suffering, their hope, and their quest for freedom. I invite you into their world; a world of love in the midst of anguish, of forgiveness in the midst of brutality, and joy in the midst of terror.