YFS-Puppets-Still-44-filmin

Puppets Beyond Borders

Synopsis

At the end of 2011, puppeteers from Germany, France, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia came together at Chiang Mai venue ‘Empty Space’ in northern Thailand for a workshop led by German director Manuel Lutgenhorst. The groups were asked to create a new collaborative piece to be performed in Chiang Mai, Phnom Penh and Yangon, exploring the topic of ‘home’. Filmed by a Burmese-Cambodian crew, Puppets Beyond Borders follows these Asian and European troupes as they prepare their pieces and encounter each other’s rich and diverse puppetry traditions – from shadow play to glove puppets and marionettes – and takes a look at the players’ innovative approaches to reinterpreting their art for today’s audiences.

Director's Biography

Born in Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State in 1985, Hnin Ei Hlaing began her film career working as an editor for MRTV4. Joining the second YFS cohort in 2006, she soon became something of an all-rounder, working as a regular sound recordist and/or editor on many YFS productions including An Untitled Life, The Change Maker and A Bright Future. Her own directorial debut Burmese Butterfly, about a young transgender person in Myanmar, screened at over 20 film festivals around the world. This was followed by The Potter’s Song about a community of potters in Twante near Yangon, and a ground-breaking exploration of menstrual mood swings, Period@Period. Filmed over six years in conflicted Rakhine State, her first feature-length documentary Midwives chronicles the unusual friendship between two birth attendants – one Buddhist-Rakhine, the other Muslim-Rohingya. The film has screened at major festivals and picked up awards at Sundance and in the Czech Republic, among others. 

Director's Filmography

2022
Midwives

Director

91‘0‘‘

2018
The Good Woman of South Dagon

Editor

18‘19‘‘

2016
Period@Period

Director

8‘10‘‘

2013

Director/Editor

22‘16‘‘

2011
Burmese Butterfly

Director/Cinematographer/Sound Recordist/Editor

12‘3‘‘

2011

18‘42‘‘

2011

Sound Recordist

18‘50‘‘

2011
On Holiday

Sound Recordist

19‘0‘‘

2011
Falling Blossoms

Editor/Sound Recordist

5‘49‘‘

2010

10‘8‘‘

2010
Respectful Encounters

Sound Recordist

17‘17‘‘

2010
Rice – Towards a Better Future

Sound Recordist

32‘17‘‘

2009

Sound Recordist

15‘23‘‘

2008
An Untitled Life

Sound Recordist

22‘8‘‘

2008
The Change Maker

Sound Recordist

15‘59‘‘

Pictures

Puppets Beyond Borders YFS
Puppets Beyond Borders YFS 1
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