Synopsis
Twenty-one-year-old hairdresser Phyo Lay looks back on a turbulent childhood and adolescence and describes how difficult it is to come out in Myanmar. A rare glimpse into the emergent gay community in this hitherto isolated country.
Director's Biography
Born in Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State in 1985, Hnin Ei Hlaing entered the film industry with a diploma in computer art with the Forever Group and subsequently worked as an editor for MRTV4. Since joining YFS in 2006 she has worked as a regular sound recordist and/or editor on a number of YFS productions (including An Untitled Life, The Change Maker and A Bright Future). She says she knew nothing about Myanmar’s gay scene before deciding to make this portrait of her hairdresser. Burmese Butterfly marks her first film as a director.
Awards & Nominations
December, 2012
ChopShots International Film Festival
Selected for SEA BEST SHORTS
Jakarta, Indonesia
October, 2012
Official Selection for the Médecins Sans Frontières
Online Film Competition
June, 2012
Sheffield Doc/Fest International Documentary Film Festival
Nomination for Best Student Film
Sheffield, United Kingdom
May, 2012
Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival
Nomination for Best Student Documentary
Göttingen, Germany
Screenings
May, 2013
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
USA
May, 2013
TranScreen Film Festival
Amsterdam, Netherlands
May, 2013
International Women’s Film Festival
Seoul, Korea
May, 2013
Divergenti International Transgender Film Festival
Bologna, Italy
April, 2013
Ethnographic Film Festival
Koblenz, Germany
April, 2013
Salaya International Documentary Film Festival
Phuttamonthon District, Thailand
March, 2013
Doc Festival Goethe-Institut Hanoi
Vietnam
February, 2013
Reelout Queer Film + Video Festival
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
January, 2013
Doc Point Helsinki International Documentary Film Festival
Helsinki, Finland
December, 2012
Thammasat University
Bangkok, Thailand
November, 2012
Mezipatra, Brno and Prague
Prague, Czech Republic
November, 2012
San Francisco Transgender Film Festival
San Francisco, USA
November, 2012
Interfilm – 28th International Short Film Festival
Berlin, Germany
November, 2012
The Anchorage International Film Festival
Alaska, USA
June, 2012
Frameline 36 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival,
San Fransicso , USA
February, 2012
Lifescapes South East Asian Film Festival
Chiang Mai, Thailand
October, 2011
Festival International Signes de Nuit
Paris, France
Director's Filmography
2011
Burmese Butterfly
Director
2011
Falling Blossoms
Editor / Sound Recordist
2010
Co-Director/Cinematographer