IN an effort to win recognition for the Myanmar film industry, well-known directors are launching their creations at international film festivals, hoping to make a splash.

U Kyi Soe Htun’s True Love, reviewed here last week, made its debut at the Bangkok International Film Festival, and Zin Yaw Maung Maung’s The Mystery of Snow, is expected to hit the international stage at some time. Both films will be seen in Yangon this year.

Director U Kyi Soe Tun ,who also entered True Love in the ASEAN best film competition, said the competition was fierce and the style of Myanmar films made it more difficult to win. “The judges choose films which give viewers something to think about, because they themselves are thinkers,” he said.

“Most of our Myanmar films simply tell the story. Our way of presentation is simple and we don’t force people to think too deeply. But international film juries want to think because their job is to think.

“But the audiences in Bangkok, including Myanmar and Japanese, who came and saw True Love seemed to enjoy it very much.

“The most common question they asked me after the show was ‘which love is true love?’ I just told them that I couldn’t say, they had to find it for themselves.”

He also said that for westerners, the cultural differences would make the film more difficult to understand.

“It is a film which shows love in accord with Myanmar traditional ways so it is hard for westerners to understand but Asians find no difficulty.” According to U Kyi Soe Tun the ASEAN film industry has more and more film experts now than ever before and they make good use of the advanced technology.

“When we talk about films from Malaysia and Thailand, we often think they are just ghost stories. But we can’t deny that they also have good directors who can make high standard movies that make people think. Myanmar directors are just as creative but they do not get as much technical support or opportunities.”

His trip to the Bangkok film festival was Kyi Soe Tun’s seventh visit to an international festival and he was pleased with the reaction to his film.

“Compared to others’ films in the festival, my film didn’t lose face. It was of international standard and the audiences accepted it as a work at an international level.”

But he said that for Myanmar movies to make a breakthrough in the international film industry would be a long journey.

“If our film industry is to keep abreast with those in other countries, it is vital that we give our filmmakers more opportunities to follow their dreams and create their films as they see them.”