Film screening to mark re-opening of Amnesty branch

The Shetland branch of Amnesty International will be opening again on Sunday, having spent a couple of years without regular meetings.

The re-launch will be at the Shetland Museum, starting with a screening of The Lady.

The film, directed by Luc Besson is the extraordinary story of Aung San Suu Kyi, played by Michelle Yeoh, and her husband Michael Aris, played by David Thewlis.

It is also the epic story of the peaceful quest of the woman who has been at the core of Burma’s democratic movement for the last 24 years.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s father led Burma to independence at the end of the Second World War, but within months, a bloody military coup took power forcing the family to flee the country.

After living for 40 years in England, happily married with two children, Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma to visit her gravely ill mother, and was taken aback by the desperate situation in the country.

She stayed in Burma knowing that if she were to leave she would not be allowed to return to the country of her birth, and became the figurehead of the opposition to the military junta.

She was put under house arrest for 15 years, during which time her husband died of cancer. Aung San Suu Kyii was released from house arrest in 2010 and remains a central figure in the move towards democracy in Burma.

The film has particular resonance for the Shetland group, because the group had previously worked for the release a number of prisoners of conscience held by the military regime in Burma, including U Htwe Myint, Daw San San and U Win Tin.

The film will start at 2pm and carries a 12A certificate. After the screening the group will hold its annual general meeting to discuss the its direction for the coming months, and all are welcome.