Sittwe (film)

Last updated
Sittwe
Burmese စစ်တွေ
Directed byJeanne Marie Hallacy
Produced by U Myo Win
CinematographySai Kyaw Khaing
Edited byElizabeth Finlayson
Production
companies
Smile Education and Development Foundation
Release dates
Running time
19 minutes
Countries
  • Myanmar
  • Thailand [1]
  • United Kingdom [1]
Languages

Sittwe is a 2017 internationally co-produced short documentary film about two teenagers, a Muslim Rohingya girl and a Buddhist boy, in Rakhine State, Myanmar who were separated by conflict in the state. [3] Directed by American filmmaker Jeanne Marie Hallacy, [4] it was banned by Myanmar government censors from holding its premiere at the 5th Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival (HRHDIFF) in Yangon. [5] Despite the ban, some short trailers of the film were screened in Myanmar. The directors of the film aimed to give a voice to the ordinary people involved in the Rakhine conflict and highlight the impact of a lack of education on racism and prejudiced attitudes. [6]

Contents

Its first screening was instead held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok on 5 July 2017. [2] [5] To give ordinary Americans a better understanding of the human situation in northern Rakhine, the film was screened and promoted amongst American universities, congressional organisations. [6] The film was later screened at the Freedom Film Festival 2017 in Malaysia in early September, where it won the award for Best Southeast Asia Short Documentary. [7] In late 2017 the Myanmar-based Smile Education and Development Foundation sponsored a screening tour of the film in more than twelve major U.S. cities, including New York, Baltimore, Berkeley, and Los Angeles. [8] The tour featured director Hallacy and human rights activist and Smile Foundation founder Myo Win. [9]

Accolades

AwardCeremony dateCategoryRecipient(s)Result
Freedom Film Festival September 2017Best Southeast Asia Short DocumentarySittweWon

References

  1. 1 2 Har, Anna (2018). "FreedomFilmFest – A Malaysian Human Rights Documentary Film Festival" (PDF). Human Rights Education in Asia-Pacific. 8: 33. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 ""Sittwe" Screening and Discussion". SEA Junction. Retrieved 26 February 2024. The Asian Premier is on 5 July at FCCT and the screening at SEA Junction is the day after.
  3. ↑ "Gallery Exhibit Offers Images Geared to Healing Division". Northern Valley Suburbanite. October 4, 2018.
  4. ↑ "A heartwrenching tale". The Nation (Thailand) . January 7, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Corben, Ron (10 July 2017). "Documentary Hopes to Spur Debate on Education in Myanmar's Rakhine State". VOA . Bangkok . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  6. 1 2 "စစ်တွေ မှတ်တမ်းရုပ်ရှင်" [Sittwe Documentary Film]. VoA Burmese (in Burmese). 30 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Rakhine Documentary Banned in Myanmar Shown in US". The Irrawaddy . Yangon: Irrawaddy Publishing Group. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  8. ↑ "'Sittwe' film shown to US audiences". Mizzima (Myanmar). November 25, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Activists to educate people in the US and Myanmar about the Rakhine crisis". Mizzima (Myanmar). October 23, 2017.
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