farEAST

Beatgold is an article of daily use in Myanmar. It is offered to Buddha, anticipating a good life after reincarnation as a reward. In Mandalay, the team observes how these paper-thin treasures are crafted. Myanmar has a new capital, designed on the drawing board, built into the jungle - and nobody wants to move there. The farEAST-team was there to look around. Yangon by contrast, is crowded with people and their cars. A Burmese colleague shoots a film about the city and allows the team to accompany her as she is working. He has a different way of singing but he looks a little like Bob Dylan - in Yangon, the team meets Myanmar's most well known composer and protest song writer. Oak Tar Da has a school, a monastic school for the children of the poor. Here, the youngest of them learn how to read by yelling buddhist sutras - it must be the loudest school between Berlin and Tokyo. The road to Thailand is basically unpaved and one of the team-vehicles breaks down. Finally, in Thailand, the farEAST-convoy reaches the fully developed Asian Highway that takes the team to Ayutthaya, where they take part in a giant battle-spectacle with lucky white elephants and their handlers.