Wathann film festival Finally telling of life in Myanmar

translated from German from Deutschlandradiokultur

The festival in Yangon is a springboard for filmmakers in the international market . 

When there are torrential rains, filming have no sense. Thus now-during the monsoon season- takes place instead in Myanmar the independent film festival of the country. It stands for the opening process of the country, dominated for  decades by a brutal military regime. But the future for the cultural sector is uncertain.

It is the rainy season in Myanmar. The monsoon is called "Wathann" - not a good time for filming, because the torrential rains are unpredictable. And that’s exactly why the first independent film festival in Myanmar  takes place now instead for the fourth time during the monsoon  - and has been called "Wathann".

A day before the festival, however, during the day burst the sun from the sky. In hot and humid temperatures the audience seats are cobbled together, black fabric panels drawn below the ceiling. You should insulate the sound, because the Yangon Gallery Folk Park - named after the city and former capital of Myanmar, also known as Ranguun -, is of limited use for film screenings.

But the venue had to be changed with short notice, tells the filmmaker Thu Thu Shein, who founded the festival with her husband and colleague Thaiddhi:

"The film industry produces around 800 to 1000 movies coming out on DVD. And a few, maybe 15, are shown in cinemas. Previously, we had maybe 200 cinemas across the country, today there are a lot less."

The audience has to get used to different genres

In one of the major cinemas in downtown Yangon, meanwhile, is running a fantasy flick from Hong Kong: "The White Haired Witch of the Lunar Kingdom". The public must first get used to the different genres of Wathann festivals, the Burmese documentaries and animations.

"At the beginning of the festival perhaps came 500 guests at the five-day festival. But slowly the visitors learned about the kind of films. In 2013 we then started a new program, the" Tea Shop screening, "so we try to reach a new audience. Then in the Tea shops in Myanmar young people come together. "

Under the decades-long military dictatorship of Myanmar screenings of films that reflect the simple reality, were inconceivable and the shooting was often illegal. So at the beginning was absolutely unclear what the consequences would such a festival bring.

"When we have requested authorization for the first edition, we had  no consent till the beginning of the event. I got the letter only a half hour before the closing ceremony. It was difficult for us. We asked ourselves whether we should go on or wait, and we thought: Let's go through with it, let us take the risk and in the end we made ​​it. "(laughs)
No one knows whether to enforce the democratic conditions

Myanmar is in a transitional phase, and no one knows the extent to which democracy will prevail in the future actually. The situation of the filmmaker is also still uncertain.

"Today it is quite open, I would say. We need to send the films to the censors, but we do not wait for their approval."

Burmese documentaries that are shown here are represented at festivals worldwide and the Wathann gets international attention. Last year Lars Henrik Gass, director of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, was sitting in the jury.

But the concern of the filmmaker is primarily national. They want to talk about their country and their fellow countrymen, this highlights also Thu Thu Shein.

"For me it is so, if we don’t start a festival, who will? I do it for the story, for the developing. We are obliged to do that."