Yangon Weather Forecast, Burma

Mini-theatres give Yangon moviegoers a new option

WHEN Junction Maw Tin Shopping Centre opened last year in Yangon, on the corner Anawrahta and Lan Thit streets in Lanmadaw township, the facilities included Junction Cineplex, consisting of two small cinemas.

Taw Win Centre, which opened on Pyay Road in February, followed suit with three small cinemas of its own. Two are already showing Myanmar movies on DVD, with plans to open the third, equipped to show 3D movies, in October.

Thus has the modern mini-theatre, capable of holding no more than 200 audience members, been introduced to Yangon.

The opening of two “multiplexes” in the city hardly constitutes a trend, but Ko Naing Bo Bo Htut, manager of Taw Win Centre Cineplex, said mini-theatres are becoming an essential facility at new shopping centres in Myanmar, just as they have been for years in many other countries.

“Junction Cineplex was the first in Yangon. When the Taw Win Family Group made plans to open Taw Win Centre, they also decided to include a mini-theatre complex,” he said.

Ko Naing Bo Bo Htut said the cinemas at Taw Win Centre have attracted a steady stream of customers since they opened, based on the reasonable price of tickets (K1000-K2000) and the high quality of the facilities.

“We offer facilities like air conditioning, high-quality sets and well-trained staff to ensure that the audience is happy,” he said.

Taw Win Centre Cineplex shows movies using LCD projectors, Ko Naing Bo Bo Htut said.

He said the audience size on any given day depended on the quality of the movie being shown.

“There’s more competition than ever from state-run television, satellite TV and international DVDs. But if people like a particular movie, the theatre will be full,” he said, adding: “Some people come to the shopping centre specifically to see movies, and some come to shop and then decide to see a movie. Some people even call ahead to book tickets.”

U Ko Thet, a film producer and chairman of the 700-seat Shwe Mann Cinema in Sanchaung township, said the new mini-theatres have not impacted business at Yangon’s older, bigger cinemas.

“Audiences are still unfamiliar with watching films in mini-theatres. People like to sit some distance from the screen,” he said. “Also, the cinema’s location is important for attracting audiences, as are ticket prices, which are between K500 and K1500 at Shwe Mann.”

Meanwhile, because of the low number of theatres in Yangon, U Ko Thet has been waiting two years for his film May Khin Ka Nyar to be shown at cinemas.

However, rather than seeing the opening of mini-theatres as a solution to the problem, U Ko Thet said producers do not want their films screened at small venues because they make less money.

“Only big downtown cinemas such Thamada and Thwin can earn producers a profit because they have seating capacities of 700, compared with mini-theatres, which seat around 200 people,” he said.

“If we let our films to be shown at mini-theatres, we won’t make back the money we invested in the production. Showing there costs more because we need to spend extra money to make another copy of our film for the theatre,” he said.

But the new facilities seem to be winning converts among audience members.

“I watch Myanmar films whenever a new one comes to the theatre here,” said moviegoer Khine Thazin as she stood outside Junction Cineplex last week.

“I like to come here because my grandmother’s house is nearby,” she said, adding: “I’ve been coming here since it opened and I’m accustomed to the theatre. I don’t go to the big cinemas anymore.”