White Tiger Column Goes Inside Myanmar Resistance as Gen Z Preps for Revolution in Exclusive IDFA Teaser
Training in the jungle
Cookie, Sugar and Mondine are among Gen Z volunteers taking part in the camp. Until recently, the young men were students, teachers and tour guides. They endure 45 days of makeshift training before heading to the front line against the military junta.
Between drills, they call home or sing along to pop songs. Their fight is for democracy, while its outcome remains uncertain.
A film shaped by access
Canadian filmmakers Robert Mentov, Dwight Jantzi and Bryan Dickie made the documentary, their debut feature. They were invited to observe a People’s Defense Force regiment after collaborating on the 2025 hybrid short Paradise Heights, which featured members of Toronto’s Burmese diaspora.
Dickie said concern that the story was not receiving enough exposure prompted him to pursue the project. Production began in January 2024, after he made an extended research trip to build connections and understand the political context.
Festival premiere and context
White Tiger Column will have its world premiere in IDFA’s International Competition and open the festival on Friday. The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam runs through Nov. 22. Lightwood Green is handling worldwide sales.
Filmmaker Bryan Jantzi pointed to Myanmar’s limited attention in Europe and the West, as well as the country’s political complexity. He noted that Myanmar has more than 135 ethnicities, many with their own militias, and that skirmishes are frequent.
Key points
- White Tiger Column follows Gen Z volunteers through 45 days of training in a secret Myanmar jungle camp.
- The volunteers are preparing to face the military junta on the front line.
- Canadian filmmakers Robert Mentov, Dwight Jantzi and Bryan Dickie made the documentary.
- The film will open IDFA after its world premiere in the festival’s International Competition.