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Timeout 46
April 29 - May 5, 2013
‘Floating Bliss’ aims for Singapore filmfest
By Lwin Mar Htun
THE short film Floating Bliss,
which explores relations
among a group of young
Yangon artists of different
religious backgrounds,
will be submitted to the
Singapore-Myanmar Film
Festival, scheduled to be
held in Singapore in July.
The film’s director, Mg
Mg Tha Myint, said he was
inspired to make the film
by the recent conflicts
between Buddhists and
Muslims in Myanmar.
“At the time of these
conflicts, a group of young
artists of different religions
and ethnicities would meet
at the river at the bottom of
Latha Road at a place they
called the Floating Bar,” the
director said.
“When I saw them I
realised that even though
they were of different
religions, they could still
have fun together. I want
my film to give the message
that no matter who you are,
where you’re from, or what
your religion might be, the
main thing is what is in your
mind.”
Floating Bliss is the
second film by Mg Mg Tha
Myint. His first, Scrap, was
shown at the 2012 Wathann
Film Festival in Yangon.
He said the festival, which
A still image from the short film
Floating Bliss. Pic: Supplied
is being held for the first
time this year, is organised
by a Myanmar filmmaker
living in Singapore.
“It’s a good opportunity
for me to get more
experience as a filmmaker
and to compete in film
festival,” he said.
Mg Mg Tha Myint said
that even though the film
is a drama, all the cast
members are real artists
who went to the river to
hang out twice a week.
“I didn’t impose any fake
style on them. All the scenes
from the film are based on
reality, but there is some
acting to create continuity
from scene to scene. But the
scenes where they’re having
fun at the waterfront are
real,” he said.
The main cast members
are street artist Arkar Kyaw,
photographer Saw Win Htut,
musician Sam and author
Soe Wai Htun.
Soe Wai Htun, who is also
general manager of ART
Entertainment, said he is
also collaborating with Mg
Mg Tha Myint on a film for
the Human Rights Festival
to be held in Yangon in June.
“This is the first time
I’ve performed as an actor,
but it wasn’t difficult
because all the scenes
reflect my daily lifestyle,”
he said. “I’m very happy
‘ I want my film to give the message that no matter who you are, where you’re
from, or what your religion might be, the main thing is what is in your mind.’
and satisfied because my
first film will hopefully
compete in a festival in
Singapore.”
He said Floating Bliss also
contained a message about
keeping one’s priorities
straight in life.
“Many young people in
Myanmar are serious about
creating music, which is a
good thing. But some are
so serious that they forget
about important things like
education. I don’t want this
to happen, so this message
can also be found in the
film,” he said.
Arkar Kyaw told The
Myanmar Times that the
film shows young people
not only having fun but also
working, which is important
because “most young
people in Myanmar don’t
have dreams or direction”.
Mg Mg Tha Myint said one
problem with shooting the
film was the crowds at the
waterfront, so they had to
wait until midnight to shoot
some of the scenes.
“After 11pm the crowds
disappeared and we could
start shooting. But it was
also dangerous for us
because there were some
drunk people around, but
we also had a lot of people
in our own group,” he said.
Floating Bliss was
produced by Nut and Butter
film production and ART
Entertainment. Following
the Singapore-Myanmar Film
Festival, the film will be
uploaded onto the Youtube
website so it can be seen by
people around the world.