ONCE A NATION’S VOICE, NOW A MAN FAR FROM IT.

After Myanmar’s coup, a Burmese rock star is buried in exile, rebuilding life in America as music and revolution echo from a country he cannot return to.

Logline

A Burmese rock star forced into exile after the 2021 military coup. Now working for Amazon in the United States, he struggles to rebuild his life while carrying the weight of a revolution he can no longer witness. Through family, music, and the quiet ache of displacement, the film reveals the emotional cost of being buried by politics in a place never meant to be home.

The Story

After Myanmar’s military coup in 2021, a Burmese rock musician is forced into exile. Once a public figure at home, he now lives in the United States, working a warehouse job while remaining deeply tied to a country he cannot return to.

The film follows his life in the present. Between work, family, and music, he carries the weight of a revolution he can no longer witness firsthand. Songs become a way of holding onto memory and political belief, even as distance and time reshape what resistance looks like.

Songs They Buried observes exile not as a moment of escape, but as a prolonged condition. Safety comes with loss. Home exists only through sound, memory, and what cannot be spoken aloud.

What happened in Myanmar?

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This film is set against Myanmar’s ongoing fight for freedom. After the military coup in 2021, peaceful protests were met with violent repression. More than 50,000 people were killed, over 3 million were displaced, and civilians across the country took up arms as resistance escalated into a full-scale civil war. As international attention faded, large parts of the population were forced into exile or silence.

In the United States, Burmese rock musician Zarni continues to resist through music. Living in exile, he organizes and performs small concerts for the Myanmar diaspora, raising funds to support resistance efforts while sustaining political memory and connection to a country he cannot return to. Music becomes both a gathering point and a form of resistance carried across borders.

Why Now?

As the global spotlight fades, the violence in Myanmar continues. Refugee artists like Zarni are risking everything to keep the resistance alive through their art. This film captures a rare moment in time—one that could be lost without your support.

Now is the moment to amplify Zarni’s voice, and by extension, the voices of millions of Burmese people whose stories remain buried.