Laura's awakening is gradual. Trained as a doctor, the recent violent deaths of her husband and son have never the less shaken her to the core. Numbly abandoning her practice, she is barely alert to the brewing turmoil in Burma. Then, one restless night, she wanders away from her tourist hotel, despite a nighttime curfew, and "Witness"es an event unlike anything she has ever seen. In a dark city square, a massive protest has been mounted. Heavily armed soldiers join ranks to prevent the unarmed citizens from advancing. In the middle of the stand-off a small, serene figure walks through the crowd, approaching the soldiers with quiet assurance. This is Aung San Suu Kyi (Adele Lutz), a prime-mover in the pro-democracy movement, whose image, in poster-form, has been plastered throughout Rangoon. Her face and her forceful spirit are omnipresent. After several tense moments the guards lower their guns, unable to shoot this woman whose bravery shames them. From this point forward, this spirit of Aung San Suu Kyi will serve as an inspiration to Laura, who soon will face a number of tense encounters herself.
Returning to her hotel, Laura is immediately confronted by her sister, Andy (FRANCES MCDORMAND), and the tour group's leader (SPALDING GRAY), as well as by the Rangoon police and military personnel, who tell her that she has committed a serious breach of local law by breaking curfew and attending the rally. The next day Laura's hopes of leaving Burma are shattered when she discovers that she has lost her passport. After her sister and the rest of the tour group move on to the safety of Thailand, she meets U Aung Ko (U AUNG KO), an older Burmese gentlemen who offers his services as a tour guide and whose intelligence and gentleness she finds comforting. Laura convinces Aung Ko to escort her on an "unofficial" tour of the countryside, outside of the city's limits. At what is supposed to be the end of a journey, Laura is just now beginning one.
