MEMORY! Festival presents each year an international conference. It is on a topic closely related to the main theme of the festival.
After the theme of THE CENSORSHIP on 2017 and the topic of PRESS & DEMOCRACY ON SILVER SCREEN in 2018, this year will be focusing on the preservation of the cultural heritage as part of MYANMAR 100.
Myanmar Film 100 is a program conducted in the frame of MEMORY! Festival 2019 with the Cinema Department of Ministry of Information (IPRD-MMPDB) and that aims at gathering lost films from Myanmar or about Myanmar.
The idea is to get as many countries as possible involved in a process of supporting the 100th anniversary of Myanmar Cinema taking place in 2020. Today, the situation is critical. Most of the films are dispersed, damaged or destroyed by time.
In the frame of MEMORY! Festival 2019, Myanmar 100 aims to bring as many additional feature films as possible as well as footages and documentaries in order to contribute to enriching the national collection.
France, Italy, Germany, and Australia have already agreed to contribute in 2019.
MEMORY! has located the movie Mhone Shwe Yiaka Sweet Moon (1970) in the Arsenal German Film archive and they kindly accepted to lend its copy for a digitation that took place at the Italian-French based laboratory L’image retrouvée/L’immagine ritrovata.
Australia government will also provide a precious 1905 footage from its Corrick Collection, Working Elephants, hosted at the National Film and Sound Australia.
Both elements, Mhone Shwe Yi and Working Elephants will be handed over to the Government of Myanmar and its Myanmar State Archive.
The program includes professional workshops combining individual consultancies on script-writing, producing, and plenary sessions intended to provide insight into the international film market. The Fund’s objective is to support emerging filmmakers during the development process and to assist them in honing their professional skills. At the end, the candidates present their projects during a pitch session in front of a JURY comprised of international film experts. In 2016, the jury was presided by the director Michel Hazanavicius (France) and in 2017 by the director Midi Z (Taiwan). In 2018, it was chaired by Vietnamese director Phan Dang Di. And in 2019, the jury is chaired by French Director Claude Mouriéras.
Previous awarded projects:
MSF Laureates 2018
THE BEER GIRL OF YANGON by Sein Lyan Tun. Producer John Badalu
30,000 USD of in-kind post-production from Digital District.
SHE CALLED IT FREEDOM by Myat Minn Khant. Producer Khin Warso
Khin Warso, an highly promising female producer, will be invited to participate in a week-long producers’ Lab at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland in August 2019 which will help her develop her skills.
MSF Laureates 2017
FRUIT GATHERING by Aung Phyoe. Producer Aung Phyoe
WAY BACK HOME by Nay Chi Myat Noe Wint. Producer Kaung Sint .
MSF Laureates 2016
FOUR LEGS by Mg Sun. Producer Ma Aeint
SATURDAY BORN ARIES by Nwaye Zar Che Soe. Producer Soe Arkar Htun
The Myanmar Script Fund works in close collaboration with Open Doors, a program managed by the Festival Locarno (Switzerland). It is supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Switzerland), Forever Group (Myanmar), Arte (France), Institut français (France), Canal+ Myanmar, Digital District (France) & Transition (Czech Republique).
In 2018, MEMORY! International Film Festival was proudly supported by the following Partners:
Ministry of Information of Myanmar
Embassy of France in Myanmar
Institut français
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
European Union in Myanmar
Rosewood Yangon
Forever Group
Centre National du Cinéma
Arte
Junction
Rice Communications
Immagine Ritrovata
Embassy of United States of America in Myanmar
Embassy of Australia in Myanmar
Myanmar Motion Picture Organisation
Open Doors (Locarno Festival)
Myanmar Journalism Institute
Yangon Walls
Le Planteur
SBA wine
Gulliver Travels
Yangoods
Max +
If you want to become a partner of MEMORY! Film Festival, please send us a message through our contact form.
© Stephen Kelly