The Weekly Digest: Juliano Mer-Khamis’ Legacy, Burma’s First Film Festival

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Feature: The Cultural Intifada of Juliano Mer-Khamis
Israeli-Palestinian actor Juliano Mer-Khamis, killed in April 2011, founded the Freedom Theatre, a theater of resistance that continues to fight for cultural freedom in Palestine. In this feature story we examine Juliano’s legacy and get his successors’ hopes for the future of the theater.

Burma’s First Film Festival Awards Prize to “Click in Fear”
The Art of Freedom film festival awarded the Best Short Documentary prize to “Click in Fear,” a film about journalist Law Eh Soe’s work during the Saffron Revolution. Co-organized by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s first film festival featured uncensored films, some of which are critical of the former military regime.

Send a Postcard to Writer in Prison
Every year from November to February English PEN releases a list of writers in prison, provides addresses or email addresses for each of them, and calls on people to send postcards and letters. We encourage you to join and share the campaign. It matters.

“The cards from PEN brought…a thousand and one colors with their happy trills of hope…to the underworld of the prison.” – Cuban writer Ricardo González Alfonso

Photographer Johan Persson (L) and Reporter Martin Schibbye (R) Photo: Jonas Gratzer / Kontinent

Ethiopia: Swedish Journalists Sentenced Under Anti-Terrorism Law
Ethiopia sentenced Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye to 11 years in prison for supporting terrorism and illegally entering the country. Ethiopia has a far-reaching Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, with seven journalists now imprisoned, and the world’s largest number of exiled journalists in the last decade.