The Maw Naing (b. 1971) debuted with a short documentary, Again and Again, created during the Yangon Film School (YFS)’s first filmmaking workshop in 2005. The film received global recognition, winning accolades at festivals like the Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. Studying directing at FAMU in Prague after YFS, he brought forth his first fiction feature, The Monk in 2014, which was screened at festivals including Karlovy Vary, Busan, Rotterdam, and Locarno.
Nargis - When Time Stopped Breathing
Nargis - When Time Stopped Breathing
Nargis - When Time Stopped Breathing
Synopsis
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar's Ayeyarwaddy Delta, claiming 140,000 lives. Despite a filming ban, young Burmese filmmakers clandestinely visited devastated villages after the storm, capturing surreal scenes of loss and resilience. Their emotional footage reveals the profound impact of Nargis, depicting a world where life and death intertwine, altering countless lives forever. For security reasons, the filmmakers couldn't reveal their names and they used pseudonyms. But for the first time, they screened the film with their real names at the 2nd Wathann Film Festival in 2012.
One of the directors Pe Maung Same said the screening of Nargis for the first time in Myanmar was their apology to those who were in the film. 'I feel ashamed that we couldn't use our real names due to security reasons when people in the movie dared to show their faces in front of the camera. I want to apologise to them. I want them to understand us. Things are open now and we get the chance to apologise by screening the film here,' he said.
Festivals & Awards
2010 Visions du Réel
2010 IDFA
Director's Profile
The Maw Naing
Filmography
2005 Again and Again
2007 ... are not as
2009 Evening
2009 Nargis - When Time Stopped Breathing
2010 Between the Pages
2014 The Monk
Pe Maung Same
Born in Yangon in 1974, Pe Maung Same developed his love for documentary as an editor of newsreel and historical films at AV Media. A participant of the first YFS (Yangon Film School) workshop in 2005, he has worked on a large number of YFS productions, often as a cinematographer. Set in Phya Phone, his 2006 directorial debut Like Father, Like Son won a Heinrich Boell Foundation Documentary Award in 2007.
Filmography
2005 Homesick
2006 Like Father, Like Son
2009 Nargis - When Time Stopped Breathing
2010 Rice – Towards a Better Future
Credit
Producer｜Lindsey Merrison
Production Manager Myanmar｜Thu Thu Shein
Cinematographer｜Tin Win Naing, Thaiddhi, Pe Maung Same
Sound｜Kyaw Myo Lwin, Myo Min Khin, Shin Daewe
Editor｜Myo Min Khin, Stewart Young ASE
Print Source
Lindsey Merrison Films｜huth@yangonfilmschool.org