Aung Ko Latt in Las Vegas with a high definition camera.

FILM director Aung Ko Latt has spent 20 years of his life trying to create an Oscar-winning Myanmar film.

Determined to succeed as some kind of artist, a young Aung Ko Latt tried his hand at almost everything.

His father taught him to paint, he designed book covers, he sang and recorded his own songs, one of which became a hit in the late 1980s, but nothing came as close to fulfilling Aung Ko Latt’s filmmaking dreams.

He traded the mic for a camera and made several television commercials only a few years later.

“All I want now is to be an Oscar-winning Myanmar director,” he told The Myanmar Times. “Call me crazy, but I believe my dream is drawing closer. More opportunities are being presented to me these days.”

One of these opportunities was a trip to Las Vegas for the world’s largest electronic media expo, NAB (National Association of Broadcasters), in April this year.

“The technology in Myanmar is extremely limited,” he went on. “The only the way the quality of local films can improve and keep up with international standards is by having easier access to the latest techno-logies.

“People here try to get by on what they’ve got. I’m afraid I can’t do that, so I have been trying, for the last 20 years, to keep track of the latest technologies and learn how to use them.”

The trip to the expo inspired him to invest in a high-definition camera, like those used for Hollywood block-busters, to film his next picture, but the astronomical price tag meant he can only afford the one, again limiting Aung Ko Latt in his quest to keep up with the times.

“I want to persuade wealthy people here to invest in these cameras. I can train people in the film industry to use them We just need to be able to get our hands on them first.”

Nobody else in the Myanmar film industry uses high-definition cameras.
Aung Ko Latt is currently working on getting his first film into production, the name of which remains a secret. He has high hopes.

“I have finished the script but I want to have a foreign scriptwriter go over it before I start filming,” he explained.

“I want to make sure everything is up to international standards.”
Part of the crew will also come from foreign countries to help with the production of the film, but all of the equipment will be the director’s own. The editing will be completed at the Bangkok Post Production House.

He plans to shoot the film in December this year and have it finished within two months. He intends to screen the movie, with English subtitles, abroad sometime during 2008.

The well-known director earned a diploma in filmmaking from the New York Film Academy in 2000 and has taken many courses in camera operation.
He travels abroad as often as he can for industry events but said he is always relieved to arrive home.

“Myanmar people are hospitable, generous and kindhearted. I have noticed that these qualities are rare in other nationalities. If I walk down a street in New York, for example, I have to dodge people or they will walk straight into me!"

It was his people's kind nature that inspired him to write his upcoming film.
"This film looks at the contentment and love that Myanmar people exude and I hope it will encourage foreigners to visit our country.”

The script focuses on the lives of a Myanmar tribe (he does not wish to disclose which one at this time) and showcases the natural beauty of the land they live in. Aung Ko Latt stressed that it is not a documentary but an entirely fictional story.

In order for it to be more realistic, however, Aung Ko Latt is looking for real tribesmen who have experience with farmwork, and for the main characters, he will take on some fresh faces to be trained in acting.

“I know it will be hard to train new actors but I like a challenge.
“The soundtrack will consist of tribal music to give the film some authenticity and some of the scenes will be set in tropical parts of Myanmar. I want to surprise my audience with some of Myanmar’s rare beauties. They are too good to keep hidden,” he said with a smile.

This film is a dream Aung Ko Latt is finally realising but sadly, he said, it comes at a high cost.

“I have worked hard for many years and spent everything I have earned on this dream of mine. I didn’t support my family as much as I should have, so I might not be a good husband and father. But if this film is a success, then it is not only a victory for myself, it is a victory for my family and my country."