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

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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.