DVB collaborated with Myanmar Witness on the production of Blood Copper to combine documentary storytelling, investigative journalism, and OSINT methodologies.

DVB had been reporting on the Letpadaung Copper Mine project for many years and had built a substantial archive of footage, interviews, and historical records. This provided valuable context and visual evidence for the documentary. Myanmar Witness contributed expertise in verifying information through satellite imagery, geolocation, video verification, and other OSINT techniques.

By combining DVB’s extensive archive and journalistic experience with Myanmar Witness’s digital investigation capabilities, the partnership produced a documentary that was both compelling and evidence-based.

At a time when DVB’s capacity to produce investigative stories was becoming more limited, reports of human rights violations on the ground in Myanmar were, on the other hand, steadily increasing. In response to this situation, DVB began exploring OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) documentary filmmaking as a way to work more closely with eyewitnesses, affected communities, and citizens in order to produce more accurate and evidence-based investigations.

Around the same time, Myanmar Witness was actively producing a wide range of OSINT-based reports. However, OSINT documentary filmmaking remained relatively rare among Myanmar media organizations. This created a strong motivation not only to develop such work but also to encourage journalists and media outlets in Myanmar to adopt OSINT as a powerful investigative tool.

DVB aimed to expand the use of OSINT documentary filmmaking as a means of highlighting human rights abuses more effectively. Through this approach, DVB connected with Myanmar Witness, including its team members such as Ko Zin Ko Ko, to explore potential collaboration.

Among several possible stories, the Letpadaung Copper Mine project stood out based on Myanmar Witness reports. Although communities living near the Chinese-owned Wanbao project were experiencing severe and ongoing hardships, their situation had received very limited international attention. The case also raised broader questions about how state forces were perceived to be protecting foreign economic interests over the rights of local communities.

This was not DVB’s first experience with OSINT-based storytelling. In December 2024, DVB presented an OSINT-driven feature story at a film festival examining the use of Telegram in facilitating violence in Myanmar. Building on that experience, DVB and Myanmar Witness went on to produce Blood Copper, an OSINT documentary film showcased at the 2025 film festival.

In addition, both organizations jointly organized a workshop during the festival to demonstrate how OSINT can be used in investigative storytelling. The workshop was open to journalists and aimed at encouraging wider adoption of OSINT techniques in Myanmar’s media sector.

Ultimately, this collaboration reflects DVB’s commitment as a mainstream media organization to continue producing investigative stories, even in challenging environments. It demonstrates that, even with limited resources and fragmented evidence such as videos and photographs, it is still possible today to produce meaningful investigative journalism.

Blood Copper therefore represents the result of collaboration between two organizations, combining their respective strengths to produce an evidence-based documentary that highlights important but underreported human rights issues.