Harmony between cultures

Vistor toParagon Cineplex last Wednesday could have been forgiven for thinking they had been transported to another world as ladies and gentlemen, all of them dressed in the elegant traditional dress of Myanmar milled around the foyer, waiting patiently for a glimpse of one of their favourite stars.

Pyay Ti Oo, an award-winning actor, was in town for the press conference to introduce the first Myanmar-Thai film “TT & Donut”, a romantic comedy that is likely to open a new chapter in cooperation between Thailand and her western neighbour. 

Financed by Myanmar’s Golden Princess Video and Movie Production, the film is directed by local filmmaker Adsajun Sattagovit and produced by a Thai crew.

Pyay Ti Oo plays wealthy bachelor Ti Oo or TT who is on a visit to Thailand when he is accused of kidnapping Donut (Chattarika Sittiprom, second runner-up in the Miss Thailand World 2014 pageant). She’s the daughter of a powerful mobster and is about to be wed to a prominent businessman in a marriage that’s been arranged by her father. Life becomes complicated when she loses her memory after an accident, and she and TT are forced to go the run. When her memory finally returns, she wonders which of the two men she truly loves.

The film is the first collaboration between Golden Princess and Thai entertainment giant Bec Tero. The former had been looking for a Thai company with whom to work while Bec Tero for its part was looking to expand its interests in Myanmar having successfully entered into a joint venture with Yangon-based media company and broadcaster Forever Group. Forever BEC Tero, as the company is known, produces TV shows and dramas for Myanmar’s MRTV-4 and Channel 7. 

Thailand-based Burmese-American Brian L Marcar, who’s the managing director of BEC-Tero Entertainment, was introduced to Golden Princess’s producer Thet Lwin and, after a further meeting with regional producer Piyanuch Chairatananon, the idea for “TT & Donut” was born. 

BEC Tero, of course, has plenty of experience in filmmaking through the now defunct Film Bangkok, so the two are ideal partners. 

“I want to work with the team from Thailand. We have different working styles and my aim is to show Myanmar audiences an approach they’ve not seen before in a Myanmar movie,” says Thet Lwin.

He adds that even though Myanmar production companies are fully equipped with up-to-date filmmaking tools, they lack professional experience.

“I’m very impressed with the Thai crew. They work professionally and make the entire process smooth and efficient In Myanmar, for example, one person has to do many jobs,” he adds.

Piyanuch has plenty of experience in filmmaking having run Film Bangkok and worked with both the Thai Film Director Association and the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand. The process, she says, was initiated by the Myanmar side. 

“They wanted a film set in mainly in Thailand with a Myanmar superstar as the male protagonist. It really no different from how Thai producers like to use the beautiful scenery of Japan and South Korea as the backdrops from their films.” 

She started hunting for a director and quickly settled on Adsajun, who has years of experience in movie and TV dramas and who has directed just about every genre, from drama to comedy and even erotica in his latest film project “Prommajan Suai Pan Sayong” (“Tiger Woman”).

The crew is Thai too and more than eighty per cent of the footage was shot in Thailand. Filming was completed last year and the film has now passed the censorship boards in both Myanmar and Thailand.

Piyanuch explains that even though the film is being released here, it is primarily aimed at Myanmar audiences. She therefore opted for comedy rather than straight drama in the hope it would have a wider appeal.

Thet Lwin is confident the movie will do well. “In the past, Myanmar people would choose a movie on the basis of its stars but that has now changed. Superstars are still important but they make their decision based on the plot and the storyline. Comedy is the most popular genre but the industry is still very small compared to Thailand,” he says.

Some 40 to 50 movies are made annually in Myanmar but only 15 to 20 of them have been shown to date. 

Screens too are in short supply. While Thai movie theatres number almost 1,000, Myanmar can only boast 100, and 70 to 80 of these are in big cities like Yangon and Mandalay.

 While “TT” was screened last week at Paragon Cineplex, the official release will only come in January to better fit in with Myanmar’s schedule.

In Thailand, Piyanuch says, BEC Tero is targetting the millions of Myanmar people living here. “Pya Ti Oo will be the magnet. He is a superstar and has won many film awards in Myanmar. There are many Myanmar communities across the country and they will go to see the movie once when it released,” she says.

In financial terms “TT & Donut” is considered a big budget film for the Myanmar film industry and so the producer is looking forward to seeing the results of his gamble. If the film is successful, he hopes to co-produce more movies with the Thai film company.

 One of his dream projects is to have well-known actors from both countries working together. 

“And I’d really like to make a horror movie. Myanmar horror films don’t have strong ghost characters like Thai films but we will work on it and hope we can make something as successful “Pee Mak Phra Khanong”, which was a massive hit in Myanmar too,” he says.

A few movies with Myanmar content have been released since the country opened up. Two years ago, veteran director Thanit Jitnukul made “Myanmar in Love”, which focused on the relationship between a Thai woman and a Myanmar man working in Thailand, the latter cast from amongst the migrant population. The film was given a limited release and left the cinema without making any waves.

Thet Lwin says two Thai-Myanmar films have been made to date. One of them, the romantic drama “From Bangkok to Mandalay” directed by Chatchai Katenut and filmed entirely in Myanmar, will premiere here on November 10.