Myanmar resistance documentary 'White Tiger Column' to open IDFA in Amsterdam
'White Tiger Column', a debut documentary by three Canadian filmmakers embedded with a People's Defense Force training camp in Myanmar, premieres as the opening film of IDFA in Amsterdam.
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The story, neutrally told
Left · 1'White Tiger Column', a documentary about young recruits training with Myanmar's resistance, gets its world premiere in the International Competition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and opens the festival on Friday 13 November; the festival runs through 22 November. The Hollywood ReporterLC “a new documentary that gets its world premiere in the International Competition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), which runs through Nov. 22, to open the festival on Friday.” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ Left · 1The film is the debut feature of Canadian filmmakers Robert Mentov, Dwight Jantzi and Bryan Dickie, and Lightwood Green is handling world sales. The Hollywood ReporterLC “The doc from Canadian filmmakers Robert Mentov, Dwight Jantzi and Bryan Dickie, their debut feature, asks how far people are willing to go when their freedoms are threatened. Lightwood Green is handling world sales on the film.” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ Left · 2It follows Gen Z volunteers, until recently students, teachers and tour guides, through 45 days of makeshift training in a secret jungle camp before they go to the front line to face the military junta. The Hollywood ReporterLC “a group of Gen Z volunteers in the jungles of Myanmar who try to endure 45 days of makeshift training in a top-secret camp before they go to the front line and face the military junta” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ VarietyLC “For 45 days, the trio of filmmakers captured the lives of trainees and commanders as they readied to leave for the front and join the war.” Read at Variety ↗
Left · 2Dickie, a photojournalist, said the project grew from the 2021 coup and requests from the Burmese diaspora in Canada to document the story; he made an extended research trip before production began in January 2024, and Variety says the team spent six weeks on the ground embedded with a People's Defense Force regiment. The Hollywood ReporterLC “Prior to production, which started in January 2024, I did an extended research trip to the region to build connections and further understand the political context.” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ VarietyLC “The result of the six weeks on the ground is “White Tiger Column,” opening this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.” Read at Variety ↗ Left · 1The trio had previously collaborated on the 2025 hybrid short 'Paradise Heights', featuring members of Toronto's Burmese diaspora, and were then invited to observe the training camp. The Hollywood ReporterLC “The filmmaking trio collaborated on the 2025 hybrid short film Paradise Heights, featuring members of Toronto’s Burmese diaspora.” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ Left · 1The directors told Variety they used an observational approach, with long lenses, a locked-off tripod and no talking heads or extensive voice-over, and chose not to show explicit violence: 'a war film that didn't show war', in Dickie's words. VarietyLC ““We talked a lot about wanting to make a war film that didn’t show war,” notes Dickie.”“The filmmakers also shot on longer lenses and employed a locked-off tripod technique to keep the camera static for stretched periods.” Read at Variety ↗
Left · 1Jantzi said Myanmar gets little attention in Europe and the West and is politically complex, with over 135 ethnicities and many ethnic militias, and described the People's Defense Force movement as 'a pure revolution' in which groups unite against the military. The Hollywood ReporterLC “There are over 135 ethnicities in the country – many of those have their own ethnic militia as well, and there are constant skirmishes.”“We really feel that it’s a pure revolution, because, despite all the ethnicities around the country” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ Left · 1Dickie said the film focuses on universal themes such as sovereignty, freedom and missing home rather than explaining Myanmar's history, and that the recruits he speaks to weekly are still fighting in the jungle and being bombed from the air. VarietyLC “we tried to switch our approach where instead of trying to explain or go into the hard details of Myanmar’s history and culture, what we did was focus on the universal, human themes like sovereignty, freedom and missing home.”“I talk to these guys weekly; they are still in the jungle fighting.” Read at Variety ↗ Left · 1Variety ties the film to youth-led political movements elsewhere, citing Brazil, Serbia and the US; Dickie said 'Revolution is on the lips of a lot of people', and Jantzi said the filmmakers hope it is a portrait of what revolution could look like around the world. VarietyLC ““Revolution is on the lips of a lot of people,” says Dickie”“We just hope this can be a portrait of what revolution could look like around the world.” Read at Variety ↗
Left · 1The film is produced by Tom Edgerton for Lightwood Green in co-production with Nocte Films and Rugio!. VarietyLC ““White Tiger Column” is produced by Tom Edgerton for Lightwood Green in co-production with Nocte Films and Rugio!” Read at Variety ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Both entertainment trade outlets present the film as a festival launch piece built on the directors' own words: The Hollywood Reporter as an exclusive first look centred on Gen Z recruits, Variety as an interview linking the film to youth movements worldwide.
- Emphasis
- The recruits' youth and ordinary lives (pop songs, TikTok, calls home), the directors' access and approach, and the idea of revolution as a universal theme.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither outlet gives an outside view of the People's Defense Force or the junta, or any criticism of the filmmakers' sympathetic portrayal; the war's wider course is only briefly mentioned.
- Charged language
- “pure revolution”“Gen Z preps for Revolution”“a very pure grassroots revolution”“so beautiful”
- For example
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“Left! Right! Left right! Watch Gen Z in the jungles of Myanmar prepare for revolution right here – and find out what they really want.” — The Hollywood Reporter
““Although it is a beautiful revolution, at the end of the day, it is a revolution.” — Variety
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- The film premieres as IDFA's opening film in Amsterdam.
- It was made by Canadian filmmakers Bryan Dickie, Robert Mentov and Dwight Jantzi, and Lightwood Green is attached.
- It documents a 45-day training camp of People's Defense Force recruits in Myanmar.
White Tiger Column other
The filmmakers present the film as an observational, human portrait of recruits that avoids showing violence and aims to draw Western attention to an under-covered conflict, while acknowledging that the war continues.
“Everybody, myself included, felt it wasn’t getting the exposure it needed.” — The Hollywood Reporter
“this is war.” — Variety
Left2 articles
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Sympathetic Exclusive first-look piece that introduces named recruits as young people turned soldiers and relays the directors' view of the resistance as a pure, united revolution.
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Sympathetic Director interview on method and themes that connects the film to youth political movements in Brazil, Serbia and the US while noting the war's harsh reality.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 12 Nov 13:30 First The Hollywood ReporterLC ‘White Tiger Column’ Goes Inside the Resistance in Myanmar as Gen Z Preps for Revolution (Exclusive IDFA First Look)
- 12 Nov 20:30 +7h 1m VarietyLC ‘White Tiger Column’ Directors on How Myanmar’s Resistance Speaks to Political Youth Movements in Brazil, Serbia and the U.S.: ‘Revolution Is on the Lips of a Lot of People’
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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