The Campaigner

Synopsis

An inspiring portrait of a young activist’s tireless efforts to promote peace and equality in Shan State and engage ordinary people in the national peace process.

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Credits

Director: Nang Chan Myayt Aye
Camera: Aye Chan
Sound Recordist: Moe Kyaw Thu
Editor: Zin Mar Oo
Editing Mentor: Tuula Mehtonen

Technical Details

Duration: 14‘49‘‘
16:9 Anamorphic
System: PAL
English Subtitles
2020

Copyright

Yangon Film School

Director's Statement

Shan State has been and still is a vital place in Myanmar for many reasons. It is a home for a number of ethnic minorities, a stronghold for several armed groups, a hive of natural resources, an important borderland, and also a place of conflict, refugees and poverty. It falls to the country’s young people to take on a raft of responsibilities.

I first met the protagonist of my film The Campaigner when we worked together in the Southern Shan State Youth Network. I knew something about Wint Htal Kaung Myat’s family’s political background but most of all I was impressed by his own involvement in politics in spite of his young years; it was his dedication to using politics to improve the situation for the many people who are being left behind in Shan State that inspired me to make a film about him.

Director's Biography

Nang Chan Myayt Aye (born in 1987) is Shan-Pa-O and grew up in Hopong Township in southern Shan State in Myanmar. After taking a science degree at Taunggyi Technology University, she volunteered for several civil society organisations. Since joining YFS in 2016, she has taken part in courses including in participatory video and later co-facilitated a YFS Travelling Cinema placement in Inle Lake’s Naung Shwe. She was also a co-creator of the short YFS-produced fiction The Banyan Tree about a young Shan girl’s struggle to overcome the trauma of civil war. Nang Chan Myayt Aye’s first documentary was Buy, Sell, Resell; her third documentary is The Campaigner. She is currently developing a feature-length documentary about the economic and environmental threats to the people who live along Nam Teng creek, a tributary of the Thanlwin River in Shan State.