Myanmar film-festival turns spotlight on human rights
Published on Monday, 17 June 2013 22:20
"All Human Beings are Born Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights" reads the poster, next to another announcing the latest blockbuster from Hollywood in Yangon's upmarket Cineplex.
The crowds line-up chewing on sunflower seeds and popcorn, not for the "The Call" or even "Pee Mak" - a popular comedy from Thailand - but to watch "Survival in Prison" a feature-length documentary about political prisoner and activist San Zaw Htway. Entrance is free, the theatres are packed and films are followed by applauses and discussions from a question-hungry audience.
It's the opening of the Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival (HRHDIFF), the latest arrival on Myanmar's film-festival circuit. The spotlight is on human rights and films that tackle issues from Myanmar's political prisoners, domestic violence, refugees, elections; as well as various internationally acclaimed films confronting similar issues around the world. It is an audacious line-up, let alone theme for a festival in a country where not long ago human rights were "restricted words" under the military junta.
"I didn't expect such a big turnout," chuckles Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, director and brainchild behind the festival which is showing the work of many young film-makers from Myanmar, some for the first time.
The young director was inspired when he attended the One World Human Rights Documentary Festival in Prague in 2012 and saw the need to host a similar festival back home. Only this was no easy feat. Just a few years ago, any film openly discussing human rights in Myanmar would have met the axe of the censorship board and the artist or director could be facing prison time for sedition. But all of that seems to have changed.
"Of course I was worried about permission, but I was surprised! I submitted all our films to the censorship board but they accepted all the films and didn't change anything." The Festival Director shrugs behind his glasses. He has more pressing concerns.
"We need to raise these issues and I think that aside from the mainstream industry, there are many young film-makers experimenting, not only with new styles but also starting to confront questions that involve human rights. I want this festival to provide that platform," explains Min Htin.
The restrictions that once regulated all forms of expression in Myanmar have been relaxed - for now - and many artists, film-makers, as well as the media, are enjoying new-found freedoms to cover uncensored ground. But as Myanmar embarks on a difficult journey of transition from military rule to democracy, the road is fraught with invisible lines.
Kyaw Thu Min Naing is the son of the well known Myanmar director, the late U Min Maing. He began his career as a child actor in one of his father's films and sees himself as carrying on the family tradition.
"My father could not engage with these issues in his films. In his time there was no democracy or human rights," says the 30-year old director.
He remembers when he was just a child his father took him to watch the 1988 pro-democracy protests. They stood as bystanders for his father feared loosing his job if he got involved, but the memory holding his father's hand and watching the short-lived euphoria stayed with him. As a film-maker he feels artists need to begin engaging with difficult questions.
"I've grown up under the military government. It's difficult to say if this is the right time or not, but if we don't encourage people to speak out now we could be going back to where we came from. So we as film-makers need to engage in these questions, it's the only way we can move forward," says Kyaw Thu.
His short documentary "Pay Back" is showing at the festival and consists of a selection of direct, close-up interviews with people from different walks of life - taxi drivers, shop keepers, students, businessmen, teashop workers and others; asking them what they think of human rights. Many admit that they had only heard the words a few times but didn't know what they meant. Others say that human rights were "restricted words" or that only elites spoke of them. But most agreed that human rights were something to work for, a common good that invoked respect, dignity, giving as well as demanding. The young director muses the responses in his film over a coffee.
"I wanted to show that human rights mean different things for different people. Because our nation has been so closed, many people do not know their exact meaning. But the film also shows that human rights are consistent with our beliefs and culture, even Buddhism talks about the right to life and freedom provided we do not do harm, so these are not just big words from the U.N or somewhere."
Kyaw Thu belongs to a budding generation of film-makers who are finding their voice and style thanks to initiatives such as HRHDIFF, a recent newcomer that is building on the success of the earlier Freedom Film Festival and Wathann Film Festival. All are beginning to feature bolder line-ups each year and providing the much needed space and support for Myanmar's new generation of film stars.
Yee Nan Theik is another. His film "Survival in Prison" was selected as the opening film of the festival as it documents the life of political prisoner Zaw Htway, who was only just released after 12 years in jail. The film may lack in special effects, but compensates by telling a direct and heart-wrenching account of life in Myanmar's jails. A subject still very raw in the minds of hundreds of political activists, many only released last year after years of repeated detention and torture.
The film shows the unending brutality of prison life and the little acts of defiance that kept Zaw Htway alive. After staging hunger strikes to get better conditions for him and his fellow inmates, he took up drawing with any material he could find.
"I started my own art in prison in 2006. I had no experience but I had so much time and it was the only way to keep sane," says Zaw Htway after the screening. He has a warm smile but complains of shortness of breath, his health not fully recovered after years of deprivation. Sitting beside him is Yee Nan Theik, who directed the film after being inspired by one of Zaw's solo art performances.
"The film is trying to be as direct as possible about Zaw Htway's experience," says Yee Nan. "I am not using any metaphors to hide his story. I believe he tells it best and I wanted the film to carry his voice."
His short film "Skyless Little Birds" on child workers in teashops was nominated in the Freedom Film Festival in 2012.
That Myanmar can host a human rights film festival shows that the political reforms underway are taking root and that the transition, in its early days still, is opening up new and necessary spaces for expression. Film has always been a popular art-form in Myanmar and can help bring important questions to wider public awareness. Furthermore, as Aung San Suu Kyi notes, the medium may play an important educative role in Myanmar's transition.
"The effective performance of film artists is more important than ever due to the role they play in helping our people to understand more profoundly the concepts of democracy, human rights and dignity," writes Suu Kyi, a member of the festival jury.
88 Generation leader, Min Ko Naing is another prominent name on the jury, alongside other well-known international documentary film-makers and organisers such as Peter Wintonick, Igor Blazevic and Ally Derks. This is the first Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival in Myanmar and will be running from the 16th to the 18th of June. For more information visit: http://www.hrhdiff.org/about-us/
Source: http://www.articles.myanmaronlinecentre.com/myanmar-film-festival-turns-spotlight-on-human-rights/
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