• Burmese
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
34 °c
Ashburn
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Burma Hosts First Human Rights Film Festival

Lawi Weng by Lawi Weng
June 18, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Burma Hosts First Human Rights Film Festival

Award-winning Burmese filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi speaks at the “Human Rights Human Dignity” international film festival

3.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON—Burma is hosting an international film festival focused on human rights, casting a spotlight on rights abuses under the former military regime with locally produced films that would have been unthinkable to screen in the past.

The “Human Rights Human Dignity” film festival, which opened in Rangoon over the weekend and closes on Wednesday, is featuring more than 50 foreign and local films, including some about the torture of political activists by the country’s former spy master, Khin Nyunt, and his military intelligence unit.

The international festival, hosted by award-winning Burmese documentary maker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, is the first film festival in the country focused on human rights, and the second major festival to show uncensored, critical films after nearly half a century of military rule. In the past, any mention of human rights could put a person at risk for imprisonment by the former regime.

RelatedPosts

Govt ‘Blacklist’ Practices Highlight Lack of Transparency

Govt ‘Blacklist’ Practices Highlight Lack of Transparency, Activists Say

August 4, 2016
4.5k
Advocacy Group Calls for Release of Arrested Arakan Activist

Advocacy Group Calls for Release of Arrested Arakan Activist

August 4, 2016
4.3k
Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

August 3, 2016
13.2k

More than 500 people came out for the festival’s launch on Saturday at a movie theater in downtown Rangoon, with an opening ceremony attended by Min Ko Naing, a leading activist from the 88 Generation Students Group and one of Burma’s most influential opposition leaders.

Also at the event was San Zaw Htway, a former political prisoner and actor who narrated a film on the festival lineup about his time in detention under the former regime. The film documents how the National League for Democracy (NLD) member was sentenced to 36 years in prison for his activism and tortured after his arrest by military intelligence.

“They didn’t feed me food or water for two days during the interrogation,” he said. “They didn’t let me sit down, I had to stand the entire time. Whenever I tried to sit, they came and beat me. Later I couldn’t speak because I was so dehydrated, I even collapsed on the floor.”

“They tortured me mentally and physically,” he added. “I can remember once they told me I might as well try to grow a coconut tree in prison, because I had such a long sentence, and that way I would at least be able to eat.”

San Zaw Htway was released in 2012 with an amnesty from President Thein Sein. The reformist president who took office in 2011 has pardoned several hundreds of political prisoners, but activists say more than 150 still remain bars.

Min Ko Naing also spoke of his experience in prison at the festival’s launch.

“I met someone in prison who was sentenced to seven years after giving some water to a protester. He couldn’t give us an answer when we asked what he had been charged with, so we joked that he was a man who could be charged with delivering water,” said the 88 Generation leader, with people in the theater laughing and clapping after his story.

He called on filmmakers to consider how to best reach the local Burmese audience.

“Short films give us something to think about,” he said.

The film festival was dedicated to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with an award ceremony to be held on Wednesday, her birthday.

The Nobel Peace laureate could not attend the festival but requested that a spokesperson at the launch read a letter she wrote for the occasion: “The cinema has significant influence not only in culture, but also in social, economic and political life,” she wrote in the letter. “In this way, film artists can play a crucial role in the transitional period of our society.

“At the time when our country is on the verge of turning toward critical changes, the effective performance of film artist is more important ever due to the role they play and how they help our people to understand the concept of democracy, human rights and human dignity.”

The award ceremony will include five awards, including for best documentary, short film and animation film.

After the festival concludes in Rangoon, it will continue with subsequent film screenings in different states and divisions around the country in the following months.

Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who organized the festival, is currently producing a documenting about Suu Kyi. He also helped coordinate the “Art of Freedom” film festival in Burma last year. That festival, which was also organized by Suu Kyi and comedian Zarganar, was the first festival in the country to screen films that had not been approved by the censorship board.

Lu Min, president of the Myanmar Film Association and an actor, praised the human rights film festival at the opening ceremony.

“We could not speak out about human rights in our country in the past,” he said. “But here and now we are able to hold this human rights film festival.

“I am very proud of this, that our country can hold an international film festival.”

Your Thoughts …
Tags: More
Lawi Weng

Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

ABSDF Report Finds Torture
Burma

ABSDF Report Finds Torture, Leaves Questions in Killing of Its Own

by Nyein Nyein
March 16, 2015
6.2k

A report into the killing of 35 members of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front by its own leadership documents...

Read moreDetails
‘Twilight Over Burma’ Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess
Burma

‘Twilight Over Burma’ Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess

by Nyein Nyein
May 30, 2016
11.2k

Movie about Inge Sargent, an Austrian who became a Shan princess, is screened in Thailand, shedding light on human rights...

Read moreDetails
A Story of Modern Slavery in Thailand
Burma

A Story of Modern Slavery in Thailand

by Saw Yan Naing
August 21, 2015
6k

Hoping for a brighter future, Maung Htay left Burma when he was just a teenager. He is now 42, but...

Read moreDetails
Migrants’ Hopes and Fears in Little Burma
Asia

Migrants’ Hopes and Fears in Little Burma

by Nyein Nyein
July 16, 2016
10.3k

Known locally as Mahachai, and by foreigners as ‘Little Burma,’ Thailand’s Samut Sakhon hosts up to 400,000 Burmese migrants working...

Read moreDetails
Girl Who Accused Employer of Rape Faces Charges of Theft
Burma

Girl Who Accused Employer of Rape Faces Charges of Theft

by The Irrawaddy
February 26, 2013
13.1k

A 15-year-old girl who says her employer repeatedly raped her is taken into custody after the wife of her alleged...

Read moreDetails
Did a Golden Triangle Leader Fall for a UN Peace Prize Hoax?
Burma

Did a Golden Triangle Leader Fall for a UN Peace Prize Hoax?

by Patrick Boehler and Echo Hui
January 4, 2013
4.7k

Serious doubts have been raised about the awarding of a dubious United Nations peace prize to Kokang Chairman Pai Sou...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
‘After These Incidents

‘After These Incidents, Everyone Is Living With Worries’

Suu Kyi

Suu Kyi, Ethnic Leaders to Work toward Federal Union

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

5 days ago
859
Karenni Resistance Leaders Vow to Crack Down on Price Gouging as Fuel Crisis Deepens

Karenni Resistance Leaders Vow to Crack Down on Price Gouging as Fuel Crisis Deepens

4 days ago
503

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Scrambles for Chinese Energy Investment as Lights Go Out

    Myanmar Junta Scrambles for Chinese Energy Investment as Lights Go Out

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • New Law on Civil Servants by Myanmar’s Parallel Gov’t Troubles Observers

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Fights Off Myanmar Junta Assault

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How Myanmar Military Conscripts Child Soldiers

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Changes Election Law Ahead of Polls

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.