Kaw-lah

It was to be Kit’s last gasp before marrying her high school sweetheart ...  a Thai holiday with her best friend Ilse, starting with a jungle trek in the northern hills. Instead, they and their fellow trekkers are kidnapped and marched across the border into Burma.

Kaw-lah is a story of relationships under extreme conditions. Nine individuals from six different countries, their captors and their families.  All of them hostage to the oppressive jungle environment and the encircling Burmese army.

For five long weeks, the hostages are absorbed into Karen village life, enduring long periods of boredom in basic conditions, punctuated by sporadic bursts of violence. 

Unlikely friendships are formed while others are torn apart. Some find reserves they didn’t know they had.  Others fall apart. Ethics are challenged, humanity is abused, still love grows from the rubble.

Kit sheds her quiet and mousy shell to emerge as a natural leader alongside Russell.  Kit’s wedding day comes and goes.  As she realises her experiences here have changed her so much that she can’t marry Joris, Russell steps into the breach.

Ilse cracks and seeks safety in the shadow of their main captor, Mozes. An educated man, Mozes has resorted to kidnap in a desperate attempt to stop the genocide against his people by the Burmese.   Yet even the most docile dog turns savage when whipped into a corner.

Russell’s brother Graham offers comic relief even after the rebels amputate a finger and gangrene sets in.  His strength of spirit inspires and melts the heart of 22 year old German eco-warrior Urs. 

As the Burmese Army closes in, the hostages are dragged from their sleeping mats in the middle of the night.  The villagers and hostages, refugees alike, descend on the remote Karen rebel base as the deadline for the ransom draws close.

The rebels had instigated the kidnapping, but the heat the hostages will draw to their compound is unwelcome.  Not knowing if they are to be released or sacrificed, the hostages succumb to fear, hunger and illness.

When rescue comes, it’s fast and bloody. A Thai helicopter plucks the hostages away as the Burma Army riddles the rebel camp with artillery. The rebels have lost not just the battle, but the war as well. And not all of the hostages make it home.

Status:        In development

Production:  2010