The Maw Naing
Directing
Biography
Born in 1971 in Myanmar, The Maw Naing is a multifaceted talent as a poet, artist, and filmmaker. His education in filmmaking includes studies at the Yangon Film School in 2005 and FAMU Film School in Prague in 2008. Notably, he was the first Myanmar filmmaker to present a feature at an international festival in nearly half a century. His short film ‘Again and Again’ (2005, Myanmar), based on one of his poems, won the Special Mention Prize at the Zebra Poetry IFF in Berlin. Another short, ‘Between the Pages’ (2010, Myanmar), is part of the permanent collection at the Fukuoka Museum in Japan. His co-directed documentary ‘Nargis: When Time Stopped Breathing’ (2011, Myanmar and Germany) was screened at CPH: DOX and IDFA festivals, winning four prizes. His debut feature film, ‘The Monk’ (2014, Myanmar and Czech Republic), premiered at Karlovy Vary, winning three prizes. The Maw Naing is currently preparing for the premiere of his second feature film ‘Ma’ in 2024 and working on his third narrative feature, ‘The Guy Who Wanted to be a Nun’.
Known For
Zawana enters a Burmese monastery filled with the misgivings and uncertainty that come in part with the inexperience of youth. When the superior, U Dahma, falls ill, the youngster takes up an unexpected challenge. This sensitive film, enhanced by its unique setting, was made in a Burmese-Czech coproduction.
The Monk
Yangon, Myanmar, in 2022, is in the midst of a civil war following the military coup on February 1, 2021. Mi-Thet, a young Burmese woman, works in a garment factory in Yangon, far from her native village. Wages have not been paid for the past two months, and a group of workers are leading a strike. But soon, the strikers are attacked by the henchmen of the military regime, leaving Mi-Thet terrified by her past trauma.
MA - Cry of Silence
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar's Ayeyarwaddy Delta, claiming 140,000 lives. Despite a filming ban, young Burmese filmmakers clandestinely visited devastated villages after the storm, capturing surreal scenes of loss and resilience. Their emotional footage reveals the profound impact of Nargis, depicting a world where life and death intertwine, altering countless lives forever. For security reasons, the filmmakers couldn't reveal their names and they used pseudonyms. But for the first time, they screened the film with their real names at the 2nd Wathann Film Festival in 2012.