Discoveries from Myanmar (Burma) World Cinema

In an impoverished outskirt of Yangon where the healthcare needs of the neighbourhood is great, a doctor tries to deal with the patients' problems and also his own.

In A Metamorphosis, Lin Htet Aung transforms the uncanny and absurd experiences of what it is like to grow up with state television propaganda into a kind of counter-broadcast, redefining the compositions and narratives that defined them. This distorted, eerie broadcast explores the daily experiences of living in a dictatorship and the imagery you get accustomed to as a child, accompanied by a lullaby that will haunt you afterwards: Yee, lé-lé! Yee, lé-lé-

In this directorial debut of Eden Ewardson, he tells a dreamy & poetic story that sets in two different timelines by using the colorful shots of downtown Yangon as his medium.

A Buddhist, fable-like story about the guilt of a childhood incident of killing an ant while washing hands in the sink. Animated through photographic sequences painted with golds and greys, the Zen-like visuals sweep into one another with whispering monologues and glitching noises reflecting the realms of power, guilt, prayers and existence.

Set against an operatic soundscape, period@period is a sensual interplay of sound and image that focuses on the anonymous protagonist’s monthly period and the rituals associated with it.

Shot in black and white, Invisible merges performance art and personal documentary to reflect personal and shared experiences during the military coup. Set in an abandoned building where many young revolutionists sought refuge, the seemingly invisible experiences of displacement, loss, suffering and anger are made visible through words and subtle movements.

Mother, Daughter, Sister (Amae, Thamee, Ama) exposes the Burmese military’s practice of using rape as a weapon of war and gives voice to Kachin and Rohingya women activists calling for justice for these crimes. Mother, Daughter, Sister revolves around the stories of four women: Shamima, a volunteer counselor working with survivors of military rape in the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, Dil Kayas, a teenage survivor, and San Lung and Lu Ra, sister and mother of two Kachin school teachers brutally raped and killed in 2015, allegedly by the Burmese military. Powerful testimonies from survivors, witnesses, and activists explore the far-reaching impact of sexual violence and trauma upon these communities, and together, the women call for justice and an end to the army's impunity.

Film adaptation of Khin Khin Htoo's novel Pann Kyar Wutt Hmone

After the military coup in 2021, Kyaw Kyaw and his friends could no longer safely live in the city, so they took refuge with the armed resistance force and decided to continue their revolutionary journey to the very end.

Every family has that one child, the one who feels different, distant, or left behind. In this story, a father’s deepest wish is to bring that child back home and mend the broken bonds that have long divided them.

လေချွန်နတ် is a Burmese Comedy movie.

စာရိတ္တ၂ is a Burmese movie staring Nay Win

Haunted by a past he thought he'd buried forever, the poet Maung Thit Sar's constructed life unravels when he encounters Pyone, the living reminder of the past that refuses to stay dead.

Jeep Too, a medical student haunted by his deceased childhood friend Bo Ma, meets Potae, a fellow therapy patient struggling with emotional numbness after losing her family. As their unlikely bond deepens, Jeep Too must navigate between his guilt-ridden hallucinations and growing feelings for Potae, while she desperately seeks to reclaim her lost capacity for emotion through their connection.

In a wide field, beside the night market where the pagoda festival has taken place, there is a 65-year-old gay, is performing with the old songs on a shaky theatre stage underneath the spotlights. She has covered the wrinkles and smile lines with a thick makeup. Her performance and dance are as active as a youngster. She is the second generation and the leader of Thunder Bird troupe, which is established 50 years ago, Mommy Soe a.k.a Phyu Hnin Mg. It is the first and only entrepreneur artist group capable of making the conservative Myanmar society accepted them around in 1980s, in the socialist time ruled by U Ne Win. There were a lot of audience who accepted, loved and came to watch them. But there were also a few who threw rocks violently and shouted and mocked at them: ‘Homo! Faggot!’. When there was no dancing stage, Mommy Soe worked as an assistant make-up artist in her friend’s beauty salon.

A love triangle is made complicated when each party decides to get rid of the third person. But the complication becomes even more bizarre as they end up hiring the same killer.

Kyaw Swar is an university lecturer. One day, a new student enters his class. His name is Moe Sat. From the first glance, something in his chest tightens, a quiet ache he can’t name. For some reason, Kyaw Swar keeps finding his attention drifting toward this student. Moe Sat’s mannerisms, his eyes, the way he looks at him… all remind him of someone from Kyaw Swar’s past.

Khin Kyae Hmone is a young woman who dreams of becoming a movie actress. One day, she goes to audition for a leading role. By coincidence, her father’s name is the same as the producer’s name, so the judges mistake her for the producer’s daughter and immediately choose her for the role. The producer, convinced she’s a clever impostor, tries to expose her, and that’s when the real comedy and misunderstandings begin.

After Myanmar’s military coup attempt in February 2021, a young transgender woman joins the pro-democracy movement. Her activism leads to imprisonment, where she endures torture and harassment at the hands of soldiers. Yet, even behind bars, she refuses to surrender, continuing her fight against the regime to the very end.

အရက်စက်ဆုံးအနမ်း is a Burmese movie staring Tyron, Aye Chan Maung, May Myint Mo and Melody.

After the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, 34-year-old Ohnmar plans to leave the country with her fiancé. However, her plans are complicated by the difficult decision to place her sick mother in a nursing home. Ohnmar must make a choice between her personal escape and family responsibility.

A 1972 Burmese black-and-white drama film, directed by Thukha starring Nyunt Win, Cho Pyone, Kyauk Lone, Thein Maung and Jolly Swe.

A 1952 Burmese black-and-white romantic-drama film, directed by Tin Maung starring Tin Maung, Kyi Kyi Htay, Thein Zaw and May Lwin.

After the sudden death of Yangon’s most feared crime lord, his inexperienced son fights for control while his daughter seeks protection from a ruthless gang leader, igniting a brutal power struggle.

Wealthy heir Koko falls in love with ordinary girl Katta and marries her, they are both orphans. During her pregnancy, Katta receives a family heirloom necklace from Koko's aunt. When she visits her grandmother Daw Gyan Bone before giving birth, she discovers her grandmother also owns an identical one. Despite their loving marriage, Katta never returns to Koko. What secret do the matching necklaces reveal about their past?

Dr. Myat Htun struggles to maintain his moral compass while pursued by Kyar Phyu, testing his resolve as his terminally ill wife Daw Thit Sar depends on him.

JuJu, a Burmese trans woman, works at an independent cinema in Bangkok. A chance encounter leads to a series of conversations speculating on future possibilities, imagined through the language of film.

Myanmar horror film.

The son of ex-revolutionary parents from the countryside tries to detach himself from the past while facing present reality with his hereditary mental illness.

The Sword King accepts the villagers’ request to stop the evil swordsman.

Following the protest against the 2021 Myanmar military coup, travel blogger Naw and her husband embark on a harrowing escape through the vast jungles. Amidst the chaos and uncertainty, the couple finds comfort in an unexpected companion – a newly adopted kitten they name "POOPY."

As a child, Aung Zay was oppressed by the entire village, and was taught by his adoptive mother, Ma Hla, and was taught to communicate with people and 37 spirits. Aung Zay came into contact with the spirits and became famous.

A piece of drama, by the name "Pardon Boy", tells about a teenage writer who wanders in an environment where everyone is nothing but recurring roles. He has to meet the same people every day but barely interacts with most of them. One night, he breaks himself free from the repeating cycle when he met a stranger in a bar.

Mildred, a girl dissatisfied with her life, meets an interesting vampire in the city of Yangon.

Artist and political activist San Zaw Htway experienced the full force of military repression in Myanmar back in 1999, when he was sentenced to 36 years in prison for involvement in the re-establishment of the banned student union. Twelve years later, under a more lenient regime, he was released.

During the transitional period from COVID-19 to the new normal, a filmmaker exchanges visual conversations with 9 other filmmakers in a day through zoom video chats. The result is a screen recordings representation of the collective consciousness and the emotional state during that period, experimented with the idea of available resources during limited times. It is a one-day visual diary of 10 individuals before entering back to the new normal world tomorrow. This film has been supported by an ARTivism grant awarded by Global Platform Myanmar, ActionAid Myanmar.

A young postboy accidentally reads a letter, and embarks on a mission to make sure the letter is read as it was meant to be. In the process, he meets a young pregnant woman with a lot to say.

Ma Aye Kaung is girl who was born during the reign of military government. Now she is living in middle part of Myanmar. Her father is an alcoholic and neglects family duties. At the age of nine, she started as a child labour. Now she is thirteen and a herd of goats. Ma Aye Kaung wants to read and write. Though the primary education is free but she had no chance of schooling. Now our country in the political transition period too, the girls like her, have no chance of going to school.

In 2007, during the Saffron Revolution in Myanmar, thousands of people take to the streets to protest the oppressive military regime. When a young Buddhist monk runs for his life as the soldiers disperse a demonstration, he finds himself at the door of a Muslim woman.

A poor couple, Maung Htun (Htun Wai) and A Shwe (Myat Mon) received free first-class tickets to a film from a rich couple, Thaw Ta (Thaw Ta Swe) and Ma Nwet (May Nwet). To be able to present themselves well at first-class standards, they cost more than the usual ticket. A satirical comedy about people's hypocrisy and arrogance.

Mi Thein Kywe, a simple girl, lives in a small village. She is an orphan and is brought up by a distant aunt for whom she has to sell fish. One day a rich university student passes through the village and falls in love with her. He promises her the earth, but when his parents turn up, they buy her off with minor compensation. Later the girl marries a rich ex-monk who dies of a heart-attack after six months. Then she buys a restaurant and falls in love with the musician Ko Thet. This relationship runs aground too. As Mi Thein Kywe gets richer, her need for a suitable spouse grows too. Will she find one?

A young gay boy is haunted by the ghost of his father, who died two years earlier and now returns with a chilling presence that seems rooted in the boy’s sexuality. The haunting grows increasingly intense, turning the boy’s home into a space of fear and isolation as he grapples with memories of rejection and the lingering weight of his father’s disapproval.

A young woman had to flee the country after the February 2021 coup d’état in Myanmar. The activists and CDMers were brutally captured and imprisoned. Very few came out from Myanmar military interrogations. Some chose death over military tortures. For her, dying was not an option.

When three picky old friends who live in the same house want to have a boyfriend... the boyfriends they get are not only inconvenient but also chaotic. You can naturally laugh and feel what the love dream of the three flowers will be like...

A conversation of two lovers.

A young Burmese Christian girl who loves to draw finds her inner world shifting as faith, imagination, and doubt begin to blur. As she navigates what she believes and what she creates, she is quietly forced to confront something she isn’t ready to let go of.

After a devastating earthquake in Myanmar's Nyaung Shwe, lakeside communities confront loss and displacement. Through intimate observation, the film follows residents as they mourn, rebuild and remember. The lake becomes both witness and archive, reflecting resilience and grief after sudden rupture.

A middle-class family in Myanmar runs a 20-liter water bottle delivery service, which provides a modest but stable income. Despite the ongoing civil war, they maintain a sense of routine and normalcy, finding comfort in their daily work and shared meals. Their lives, though surrounded by tension, feel grounded and secure. However, everything shifts when a new military service law is enacted, requiring the youth to enlist. Fearing for their children’s safety, the family makes a painful decision to send the young members abroad. As they face separation and growing uncertainty, they must adapt to the emotional and financial challenges of surviving in a country torn by conflict.

Artist-filmmaker Htoo Lwin Myo examines some of the earliest pre-cinematic objects portraying Myanmar's colonial past: magic lantern slides. A polyphonous essay on the perils of history and the many stories we can find in the remains of times gone.

Ma Shwe and her husband Ko Tun work as servants in the house of rich folks Ko Thawtar and Ma Nwet. Ma Ma Nwet loves to show off but she's very stingy. So they often laugh about her behind her back. One day, Ma Nwet gave Ma Shwe movie tickets. Not the cheap seats, but first-class, the kind meant for high society. What could possibly go wrong when they went to watch a movie in first class…