Eve Eve Maung

26 features films released in 2003
THE BOX OFFICE
In 2003, 26 Myanmar films were released in Mingalar Company movie theaters,
while more than
700 videos and
DVDs passed the censors at Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise.

      Many of these,however,never went on sale
to the public. Despite the number of releases,
Mike Tee,who has directed many films and
videos during his 17 years in the business,
said that the movie industry is suffering through a bad year.Meanwhile,disgruntled moviegoers have complained that many of the movies released in 2003 were monotonous.
        Increaseingly sophisticated viewers have also criticised directors for using close-up camera shots that showcase the beauty and acting skills of movie stars instead of choosing better angles that provide innovative scenes.Audiences who are tired of Myanmar films and videos have instead begun to embrace Chinese and (South) Korean television series and VCD karakoke albums.The good news according to industry sources,higher quality but released schedules have not yet been determined.
       Academy award winning director U Zin Yaw Maung Maung said that the movie industry is now making the kind of quality movies that audiences have been waiting for.He has been working on Mystery of snow,Stillness of sound, shot on the 11,500-foot-high,snow-clad mountain Phon Kan(Ice Mountain).The film expected to cost more than K100 million will be finished in 2004.Post production work will be done in Thailand.In 2003, some movies stars switched professions and become directors and producers.Lu Min directed and produced King Kyansit which used digital audio and computerized and animation to tell the historic biography of Bagan King."The shooting period was forty days which was the longest ever for a Myanmar movie and it cost four times as much money as a regular film", said Lu Min.Much of
the money for bigger budget films goes to
movie stars who may earn K10 million to K15 million for each movie.Supporting actors are
paid substantially less.
       According to U Tin Oo,who became a
director in 1971 and has won five Myanmar Academy Awards, another trend that hampers the progress of the local movie industry is the audience's adoration of familiar Myanmar actors and actresses, making them afraid to accept
new performers.Myanmar audiences are willing to accept young actors and actresses on
(South) Korean television series but few local directors use new talent."Local audiences never take an interest in new Myanmar faces.
They adore stars that are already famous.
Maybe they are more impressed with foreign actors and actresses," said director Mike Tee.
"It totally depends on the audience.If we use
a fresh, new actor and the audience does not accept him,we suffer a great loss.
        But producers need to have encourage to take this risk," said Maung Myo Min. New, inexperienced actors sometimes require more time on the movie set."If we have to take a lot of time to direct new actors, we cannot finish our films during the allotted time, which increases costs because we have to pay additional wages to the film crew and rental fees for the equipment," said director Maung Myo Min
(Yin Dwin Phyit). The pressures of time limits
also affect films.
       Shooting schedules are often shortened
so the actors have time to move on to their
next project.Rush jobs often result in a shoddy finished product.The pressures of audience expectations,as well as time and budget limits have stiftled innovation.No system exists like that of the 1950s when movie companies owned their own cinemas and kept particular directors and actors under contract.With this structure,
the companies often dared to take risks with their creations and investments.Another problem with local movie industry is the lack modern cinema halls, which often delays the release of films by about one and half years.
       Because of their investment,producers want to get their films to the public as soon as ossible, sometimes seeking to release them in small township theatres.DVDs face similiar distribution problems."Many DVDs are eventually released,
but some never get seen by public," said
director Mike Tee,who has produced two DVD movie that were never released.
       Myanmar film makers feel that their talents are on par with others on the international level but that they are disadvantaged because they must work underrestrictive circumstances with old-fashioned equipment.

This article first appeared in Myanmar Times, volume 10, No.196.(December 15-21,2003)

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