Yangon, Myanmar, in 2022, is in the midst of a civil war following the military coup on February 1, 2021. Mi-Thet, a young Burmese woman, is working in a garment factory in Yangon, far from her native village. Wages have not been paid for the past two months, and a group of workers are leading a strike. But soon, the strikers are attacked by the henchmen of the military regime, leaving Mi-Thet terrified by her past trauma.

“In Myanmar, people have lived under the military closed system for a long time. We’ve been suffering in so many different ways. I am interested to expose their unexplored trauma, hesitation and fear of our own people. I base the story on the women who are heavily oppressed by the social patriarchy. But they try to get and fight back for their rights.” (The Maw Naing)

The Maw Naing, born in Myanmar in 1971, is a poet, artist, and filmmaker. His education in filmmaking includes studies at the Yangon Film School in 2005 and FAMU Film School in Prague/Czech Republic in 2008. Notably, he was the first Myanmar filmmaker to present a feature film at an international festival in nearly half a century. His short, BETWEEN THE PAGES, is part of the permanent collection at the Fukuoka Museum in Japan. His debut feature film, THE MONK, premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2014, winning three prizes. Currently, he is working on his third narrative feature, THE GUY WHO WANTED TO BE A NUN.

Filmography (selection): 2005 AGAIN AND AGAIN, 2010 BETWEEN THE PAGES (both short films), 2014 THE MONK, 2024 MA – CRY OF SILENCE

Nominated for the Amnesty International Wiesbaden Film Award for Best Film about Human Rights. A three-member expert jury will decide the winner of this competition.