Critical Acclaim and Audience Response “Remarkable for its combination of sensitivity, humour and anthropological rigour” Pärnu International Documentary Film Festival Award Jury “The nat mediums and the elaborate trappings surrounding them and their often eccentric ceremonies put most Western TV hucksters to shame ...” [more...] VARIETY, Los Angeles/London “... an unforgettable perspective on life in Burma.” [more...] Miryam van Lier, Nyon International Documentary Film Festival Programme Notes “Friends in High Places is fascinating ... sensitive ...” [more...] DER TAGESSPIEGEL, 11.02.02 “It is rare to find humour in an ethnographic film ... magnificently shot ... the film breathes and smiles.” [more...] Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival Selection Committee “One of the highlights of the festival ... beautifully shot ... very striking ... Merrison paints a loving but also ironic picture of the mediums.” [more...] ALLOCHTONENKRANT, Netherlands, May 29th 2002. “FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES ... packed in audiences ... and had to do a second screening to accommodate them all ...” [more...] MYANMAR TIMES, Yangon, May 6-12, 2002 “Just beneath the surface of Burma's dictatorship, a whole world is revealed to us which has real subversive power ...”. [more...] Bettina Kocher, Curator, Hamburg Television Workshop on the Developing World, 2001. “... fascinating ... exciting ...” [more...] SKRIEN Magazine, Niederlande “In a changing world cultural traditions can offer support, as is also shown in the film “Friends in High Places” ...” [more...] TROUW, Netherlands “Friends in High Places probably could have been made only by someone in Merrison's position, someone close enough to be able to tease out the richness of life behind both the concrete high-rise blocks of Burma's capital and the villages. [more...] Anne Démy-Geroe, Director, Brisbane International Film Festival “I believe that your film does justice to the average Burmese population who are obliged to live under a dictatorship but refuse to be browbeaten.” [more...] Bernd Hermann, Berlin “The way you have interwoven the daily lives of the Burmese people and the cult of the nat is fascinating and highly artistic.” [more...] U Ye Myint, Burmese émigré living in Berlin “... your achievement is to allow the Burmese to do the talking. This enables the viewer to identify with the protagonists and their stories and, in turn, gives one the opportunity to discover oneself in something which is only ostensibly bizarre or 'other'.” [more...] Iris Wagner, Berlin “I thank you most sincerely for showing me another side of life in Burma ...” [more...] Keiko Ye Myint, Lecturer in Japanese, Berlin “... One of the few documentaries on Burma that I can show my friends with a clear conscience.”. [more...] Heiko Schäfer, Deutschland “Marvellously photographed, impressive characters, plenty of humour – a fascinating insight into a world wholly unknown to us ...” Toni Linder, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Bern