Maung Saungkha, a poet in Myanmar, was once a firm believer in peaceful protests. After he and his fellow artists faced deadly attacks by the military for demonstrating, he took up arms and formed the Bamar People’s Liberation Army (BPLA).

The army itself better resembles a hipster summer camp than a platoon barrack. Guitars and books litter the base. One of the army’s official T-shirts declares: “This is what a feminist looks like”.

Despite the poetry and songs, the reality of war is cruel. Several of the BPLA’s soldiers have been killed and many injured. Trainings are often brutal and disobedience severely punished, but this hasn’t stopped young and educated recruits from continuing to join.

The BPLA has been making territorial gains but are still a long way from triumphing against the military junta, a professional war machine.

“When a Poet Goes to War” tells the forgotten story of Myanmar, how young people have transformed from non-violent protesters to hardened soldiers, and how they wrestle with that impossible transition.