Shin Daewe
Burma
2010 | Digital | 0:22:00

The painter Rahula lives a modest contented existence with his family in Mingun, a village on the banks of the Ayeyarwaddy 11km upriver from Mandalay. As a new work takes shape on a canvas in his studio next door to the towering base of Mingun’s famously unfinished brick pagoda, we learn how this easy-going artist has managed to survive a sizable chunk of Myanmar’s chequered history.

Hnin Ei Hlaing
Burma
2011 | Digital | 0:12:00

Twenty-one-year-old hairdresser Phyo Lay looks back on a turbulent childhood and adolescence and describes how difficult it is to come out in Myanmar. A rare glimpse into the emergent gay community in this hitherto isolated country.

Shin Daewe
Burma
2011 | Digital | 0:15:30

When the Paungdaw Oo monastic school was founded near Mandalay in 1993 the aim was to provide orphans and children from disadvantaged families with a decent education. Fifteen years later, the school has swelled to 7200 pupils and is a resounding success not least on account of its inspired, child-centred approach to teaching (known as CCA) as well as the integral role played by teachers, parents and income-generating vocational training programmes. In this lively portrait, the school's abbot and several of Paungdaw Oo's teachers – many of whom were once pupils there themselves – talk about the school's CCA concept, the astonishing benefits of encouraging children to think for themselves, and how these methods can be a model for schools across Myanmar.

Maung Okkar
Burma
2010 | Numerique | 0:12:00

In this beautiful and heart-tugging documentary, charming 14-year-old Pho Htet Aung toils in a charcoal shop in Myanmar but sets his sights on bigger things, like the cute girl who walks by on her way to school.

Pe Maung Same
Burma
2006 | Digital | 0:14:15

Zaw Oo is at a crossroads. In order to prevent his centuries-old Rama troupe from dying out he must train the next generation of players. But how can he recommend the life of a poor Rama performer to his own son?

Thu Thu Shein
Burma
2006 | Digital | 0:15:20

A MillionThreads reveals to us a pretty pitiless world. In deafening noise and at an impossible rate, the women sweat over their machines from 6 a.m. to midday and from 6 p.m. to midnight. Eyes glued to the clock, because the red costume intended for the Giant Buddhas must be ready on time. All this under the stern gaze of a jury composed only of men who will inspect the finished work with a magnifying glass! The editing of the film by Thu Thu Shein follows the frantic rhythm of the looms and the energy of the weavers as they toil. The filmmaker lingers on their faces to make us feel the gruelling effort and fatigue of this very long competition. Then comes the joy for the winner of seeing her dress hoisted up on to the walls of the pagoda, and of the people praying in front of it.