World Refugee Day / Moving to Mars

The Karen ethnic tribe is one of the largest ethnic groups in Burma (Myanmar). Successive military dictatorships have persecuted the Karen people, denying them basic human rights. Moving to Mars follows two very different Karen refugee families from Burma over the course of a year that will change their lives completely. Forced to flee their homeland by the repressive military junta, the families have lived for 12 years in the Mae La refugee camp along the Thai-Burma border. Everything begins to change when they are offered an opportunity to be resettled in the U.K. With intimate access, this feature-length documentary depicts the refugee families’ moving and sometimes humorous struggles to adjust to their vastly different life in 21st century Britain while reflecting on their tragic pasts. This is a story of cultural adjustment, shedding light on the struggles of displaced people worldwide, while illustrating the human consequences of Burma’s political unrest.