180 submissions for Freedom Filmfest

Zaganar answers questions at a press conference in Yangon on October 31 to announce the Art of Freedom Festival.
Pic: Boothee

A TOTAL of 180 local films were submitted by the December 20 deadline to the Art of Freedom Festival, which will be held at Taw Win Centre in Dagon township, Yangon, from December 31 to January 4.

Director Min Htin Ko Ko, one of the judges for the festival, said the majority of submissions were short films rather than documentary films.

“I think the reason we have few documentary films is because documentary films are not easy to make. Not only is the shooting difficult, but also the editing is difficult as well,” he said.

“For short films, you write your idea into a script, find the actors and make a video clip. It takes a lot of time to create a quality documentary film.”

Min Htin Ko Ko said no decision had been made about how many films would be chosen for screening at the festival.

He added that many films had been submitted from foreign countries, but most could not be downloaded because of the slow internet speed in Myanmar. Some that had been sent via regular post had been forwarded by Customs to the Video Censor Board and were unlikely to be seen at the festival.

Zaganar said in an interview in November that foreign films would be considered for screening at the festival, but would not be eligible for any awards.

Filmmaker Thet Zaw Win submitted a documentary titled Soap Box to the festival.

“There are a lot of young people in my film. I’d like to show their opinions about the definition of freedom,” he said.

“I don’t think anybody ever asked these young people what it means to live freely. When this kind of question is asked, it makes them think again and try to understand themselves more deeply.”

He said the idea for the film was inspired by an online project called 50 People One Question, an ongoing social experiment and film series “exploring human connections through people and place” (fiftypeopleonequestion.com).

“There are not 50 people in my film but I like the idea that everyone has an interesting opinion,” Thet Zaw Win said.

“The film is only four minutes long and it’s kind of messy but I want people to feel good after watching the film. I think our purpose is successful if people think to ask themselves, ‘How would I answer if someone asked me that question?’.”

Sai Kong Kham, the winner of the Best Documentary award at the Wathann Film Festival in Yangon in September, submitted an animation film called The Proposal.

“It’s not about winning a prize. Freedom represents the whole country and I want to take part in it,” he said. “Mine is a kind of mockery film. In our country, I don’t like the process of going through a lot of steps in order to achieve only a little change.”

The opening ceremony for the Art of Freedom Film Festival will be held on December 31, and the awards ceremony will take place on January 4, Myanmar’s Independence Day. The films will be screened from January 1 to 3.

Four awards will given: Best Short Film, Best Documentary, Audience Choice and one other yet to be determined.