WELL-KNOWN director Ko Aung Min Thein lost his battle with liver cancer on October 7 at the age of 46.

The filmmaker began his career in 1991 with the release of his first video, We Love in Myanmar (Myanmar Pyi Twin Chit The), and his debut feature film Everything in My Heart (Yin Htae Shi Dar).

He went on to direct several more films, among them the romantic drama Love is Like a Breeze (Achit The Lay Pyay), which won praise from film industry elite, and his most famous comedy Smile and Relax (Pop Pop Par Par Pyone).

Along with his wife, Daw Thuzar Kyaw, Ko Aung Min Thein was an artist, and the two displayed their art together twice in Yangon.

He was in the middle of preparing for his next show.

“He finished two new paintings for the show,” said Daw Thuzar Kyaw. “It was what he wanted to do professionally. He planned to enter the monkhood after recovering and expressed the desire to paint more instead of directing films.

“He was the most valuable and most adored person in my life,” she said.