Wathann Film Festival x FAMU

The cooperation between FAMU and Myanmar was the chief activity as part of the Czech Republic’s support provided to this Asian country for many years. We are really happy for it. Today, the Myanmar city of Rangoon is hosting the Czech Film Seminar, an event that follows up on the recently opened Wathann Film Festival, which FAMU helped to found 10 years ago and which was the only local event to present the local cinema. Several Czech films are screened as part of the event – S P A C E S (Nora Štrbová), That One Time Shaman Sasha Decided to Eradicate the Demon from Putin (Nora Štrbová), Don’t Be a Pussy (Jakub Jirásek), and Five Hundred Plateaus (Andrea Slováková). This is happening thanks to the cooperation between the Goethe Institute, a civic association that organises the Wathann FF, and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Wathann Film Festival is the only continuing festival that offers the local citizens contact with international (or any) independent cinema. Attending today’s screening is the Czech Ambassador to Myanmar Hana Mottlová. The event is taking place quite early in the afternoon, as the public space is not safe in the evening and citizens need to shelter themselves at home from potential bombing. The festival is organised by our former students from Myanmar – the former Director of the festival and her partner who organise the festival together studied the CDM international directing programme at FAMU. The screenings are followed by discussions. FAMU has cooperated with Myanmar for a long time with a view to supporting the local audiovisual journalism and documentary cinema.