In July 1991, when Aung San Suu Kyi was slated to receive from the European Parliament the 1990 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, she published from house arrest an op-ed of varying lengths in many of the world’s great newspapers. “Freedom from fear” was the title she gave to it. In December 1991, soon after the Norwegian Nobel Committee conferred on her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, she issued through Penguin a paperback edition of more than 20 essays. Freedom from Fear was again the title. So it was that this became the signature political commitment of the incarcerated democracy icon.

One of the things I like about Burma VJ is how this theme surfaces in the narrative from time to time. “Fear is so deep in everybody,” notes Joshua near the start of the film. “Also in me.” Speaking of Aung San Suu Kyi’s role in generating the NLD landslide at the 1990 general election, he says this: “It was like she made the whole people forget their fear.” Later, at the height of the 2007 uprising, we get a glimpse of a man wearing a T-shirt with “freedom from fear” and a photo of Aung San Suu Kyi on the back.

Today we don’t hear so much from Daw Suu about the political slogan most widely associated with her. When we do, it sometimes stirs controversy, as in her October 2013 BBC interview. Asked about anti-Muslim violence, she responded in these terms: “I think the problem is due to the fear felt by both sides. Muslims have been targeted but Buddhists have also been subjected to violence. This fear is what is leading to all this trouble.” Again, Burma VJ reminds us of a more simple, even innocent, time in Myanmar politics.