News Features Award – Finalist
Katie Arnold
Inside Myanmar’s Rebel Advance
Commissioned by: Channel 4 News
For three years, Myanmar has been locked in a brutal civil war following a military coup. Myanmar’s military dictators have a $2 billion defense budget and are backed by Russia and China, while pro-democracy rebels are a loose coalition of former protestors, supported by poorly equipped ethnic militias.
Against all odds, it’s these resistance forces that now control the majority of the country, advancing into former military strongholds. In Karenni State, on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand, rebels hold over 90% of territory and have nearly seized the state capital, Loikaw.
Much like the war in Sudan, the brutal fighting in Myanmar remains one of the most chronically under-reported world conflicts. Through Katie’s deep, searing and decade-long coverage of the region, Channel 4 has brought insight to international audiences that has kept the crisis squarely on the international agenda.
“The judges were impressed by Katie’s commitment to tell a story that had long been ignored by the western media. With fantastic access that was the result of years of investment in the story, we were given a unique insight into the Myanmar conflict and the brutal war against the Generals. The film gave an extraordinary insight into modern warfare, where tech is deployed against an unseen enemy, but the threat to life is very real.”
News Features Award Jury
Bio
Katie Arnold is an award-winning filmmaker and investigative journalist who makes current affairs programming for top broadcasters such as Channel 4 News, Channel 4 Unreported World, Channel 4 Dispatches, BBC World Service, Al Jazeera Witness and Al Jazeera 101 East. Katie’s films focus on major human rights issues, from genocide to human trafficking, and her pursuit of these stories has taken her to five continents and numerous hostile environments.
She is a self-shooting producer/director with fifteen credits in that role, and she has spoken at numerous events about her investigations into human rights abuses, including at the UK and EU Parliaments. Katie graduated from Durham University with a degree in History. She briefly worked at Sky News before being accepted onto the Channel 4 investigative journalism training scheme in 2014. Since completing that programme, she has been working as a freelance filmmaker.