Thida Swe (born in 1997) grew up in a village in Nyaung Oo Township near Bagan. Her parents are bean farmers. After studying chemistry she spent two years working for an NGO conducting interviews on gender-based violence with people in Chin, Shan, Sagaing and Tanintharyi. Having filmed the quirky portrait The Gatekeeper during her first year at YFS in 2016, Far From Yangon marks her second film as a director. She is currently working with two other YFS students on a short docuanimation about the challenges faced by women displaced by the conflict in Kachin State.