The big winner of the most glittering night of Myanmar cinema was the State Administration Council (SAC), for its artless manipulation of the movie industry and its leaden propaganda efforts.
The 2023 Myanmar Academy Awards were celebrated in “iconic fashion” in Naypyidaw on February 3, attended by industry stars, directors and senior members of the military regime who have long harnessed the influence and glamor of film to bolster the prestige of the armed forces.
Running since 1952, this year’s Academy Awards showcased 35 films with awards in 12 categories. As expected, the military propaganda film “Saung Nilay Thatae” (“A Red Blanket”) was a big hit, with wins for best director for Tin Aung Soe (Pan Myo Taw) and best actor for veteran performer Yan Aung.
At over two hours and 40 minutes long, “A Red Blanket” is a turgid exploration of the fatuous claims of the Myanmar military to demonstrate humanity and professionalism on the frontline. (This writer reviewed the film for Tea Circle in 2023, in uncharitable fashion).
In “A Red Blanket”, officers and ranks of the 88 Light Infantry Division face psychotic insurgents of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and through self-examination and Buddhist virtue convince the backward Christians of the Kachin hills that the Myanmar army transcends race and religion and wants to live in harmony with civilians. Unconvincingly, it is “based on a true story.”
There are numerous atrocities depicted, mostly by the KIA, although a major subplot is the conversion from murderous hatred and a thirst for revenge by the hardened platoon sergeant Saw Berry, played by best actor winner Yan Aung, to a gruff but benevolent desire to protect the simple ethnic minority people of the northern hills.
It conforms to all the tropes of Myanmar military propaganda and decades of films with almost identical plotlines. The SAC has been boosting the film for the past year, sending it to regional film festivals and making it the official film for last year’s Armed Forces Day event on March 27.
The Academy Awards ceremony was conducted under strict security at Naypyidaw’s Convention Center. Public events such as this are always prime delivery vehicles for SAC propaganda.
In attendance were SAC deputy Vice-Senior General Soe Win and Minister for Information Maung Maung Ohn, a former general and head of the military Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare who handed out the awards to the 12 winners.
Soe Win reminded the glitterati in attendance, “I would like to strongly urge the artists who are attending the event, to work together with the government for our country, development of our people, to keep the love of country and spirit of patriotism alive, national peace, unity and development.”
But then in that mixture of exhortation, encouragement and historical grounding, there is also menace and paranoia.
In nearly the same breath, Soe Win warned, “some are using words like human rights and democracy and saying they worry about it, they are shaking with fear…they are sided with the powerful countries…in such a situation, we must also be aware of foreign dependents, such as individuals with low national morals, puppets and those who receive things in charity or support, who are attacking their own country in various ways to make it unstable, destroy and make the conflicts bigger…(t)herefore, I would like to urge the artists to try their best for the benefit of the nation and its people with the right awareness.”
The best film award went to “Kan Kaung” (The Lucky). The film stars actor, model and social influencer Paing Ta Khon as a Buddhist monk who befriends a puppy that grows into a rambunctious large dog who he calls “The Lucky.”
He must choose between achieving enlightenment and giving up the dog and maintaining their “attachment.” It’s a curious development for the actor, who participated prominently in the anti-SAC demonstrations in early 2021 following the coup d’etat. He was arrested in April that year in an early morning raid by dozens of Myanmar army soldiers.
In December 2021 he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for breaking 505(a) of the penal code, a provision turbocharged two weeks after the coup with an amendment that prohibited spreading fear or fake news or any action that would “hinder, disturb, damage the motivation, discipline, health and conduct” of security officials.
Paing Ta Khon was released in an amnesty in March 2022 and eventually resumed his career and public profile, even as many parts of Myanmar have descended into deadly conflict. At least 20,000 people remain imprisoned, many of them charged under 505(a).
It is probable that the actor was compelled to sign an agreement to refrain from further public criticism of the regime: many people charged under 505(a) are not released with all charges dismissed in a form of parole for which any further transgression can have them rearrested and imprisoned.
The ceremony also underscores the captured nature of the film industry and the actors, writers and directors who must maintain a moderate public modus vivendi with the regime.
It’s challenging to brand outright many of these artists as collaborators. It’s not always a simply “SAC-positive” or “SAC-negative” dichotomy living in a dictatorship.
Many in the movie industry are compelled to sign agreements not to be involved in politics or face a 505(a) charge, and it is rumored many had to sign some sort of agreement for their participation in the Academy Awards ceremony.
Involvement in the film industry is not always about artistic freedom, as professionals who wish to remain working have to be involved in projects that cast the military in a positive light, regardless of who finds it credible.
And then there is outright nepotism, cronyism and corruption. As reported by Myanmar Now ahead of the Academy Awards, dictator Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon’s production company 7th Sense has been involved in roughly four of this year’s 12 nominated films.
The company was listed in the first round of American sanctions following the 2021 military coup but has attempted to stay active using a host of shell corporations involved in the movie industry. The winning director and screenwriter of this year’s best film, “The Lucky”, both worked with 7th Sense in the past.
Films lauding the “achievements” of the Myanmar military are certainly not new and stretch back decades. Myanmar intellectual Ye Hein Aung and his Burma Civil War Museum have investigated the intricate and long-standing links between the motion picture industry and the military’s propaganda arm, sometimes tangentially and others directly orchestrated by the Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare.
In the 2023 report “Are You Talking Seriously or Just Paying Lip Service?”, he wrote “Myanmar army propaganda movies, TV stories and songs are made sure to spread on Facebook and descriptions about civil war through the views of Myanmar army were widely shared by influencers, famous actors, singers and writers. In doing so, some did it because of the pressure of Myanmar army and government, some did it because they want benefits by doing that and some did it because they like that propaganda.”
In 2015, many actors supported the military in its offensive against Kokang insurgents of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), writing love letters to soldiers and forming groups such as the Blood Love Charity Association. This year’s award ceremony comes just weeks after the MNDAA recaptured the Kokang enclave of Laukkai after 15 years of armed conflict.
Also in attendance were members of the Myanmar Comedians Association, a group often instructed to issue statements condemning “terrorist actions”, but could be better put to work parodying these kinds of strained events and the tragic events that surround them.
The movie industry is certainly facing a formidable barrier to portraying future victories when so many SAC battlefield losses are mounting.
In the near year since “A Red Blanket” was released in March 2023, the military has dramatically lost significant bases in northern Shan state, Karen and Arakan states, several planes and helicopters have been shot down and senior commanders surrendered or killed in attacks.
Not even the Neverland of the Myanmar movie industry can varnish or deny this reality anymore.
David Scott Mathieson is an independent analyst working on conflict, humanitarian and human rights issues