In Myanmar’s eastern Kayah State, villagers live between the ethnic minority army and the Myanmar army. Women, especially, face daily threats to their safety and well-being, as soldiers from both armies come and go in their living areas. Based on the director’s own experiences, the power of the serenity of the screen and the symbolic portrayal of the women, make this film more art than documentary. The sharp and transparent images convey the pain and terror of exposure to violence. This is the first film by the Director towards courageously overcoming her fear.

The first impression of Broken is how the film is beautifully influenced by a poetic storytelling style. It possesses a well scripted and rhythmic voice-over with minimal camera movement and is something very cinematic and quite uncommon in most documentary films. The film asks audiences to witness the two lead female subjects, to learn about their lives’ struggles, and how they were affected by war and gender inequality. This is done through non-chronological memories of tragic events. Refusing to tell the story through a commonly used structure of who, what, when, and where, the film still successfully touches the hearts of the audience. A dominant aspect of the documentary is its cinematography work. It possesses such beautiful composition and framing, and it is meaningful at the same time. The director creatively relates the story without re-enactment, by filming scenes that invite the audience’s interpretation, such as one scene of the lead character, lying under the river, against the currents of the water. This is a good example of the cinematic visualization skills of the director. The open end of the story works well with the short film’s nature. It ends with a memorable metaphoric shot which is very powerful and interesting to watch.