Burmese Movies and Films Resources

The Burmese government exercises a very tight control on the Burmese Movie industry. The Burmese Movie industry lacks technical skills and technology. The most important problem faced by the industry is though the financial problem. If one considers all these problems it’s quite a remarkable that in the face of all the problems Burmese movies still do get produced.

But most of the educated Burmese claim to completely abstain from watching Burmese Movies for many years now. The Burmese Movie Critics blame the lack of creative freedom in the country for the poor state of affairs in the Burmese movie industry.

Today the Burmese movies are not highly regarded. But there was a time in the past when the country had been responsible for producing some of the most outstanding and controversial Movies. In fact the Burmese Movie industry has its own extensive film history.

The country’s very first silent film, Myitta Nit Thuyar, (Love and Liquor) marked the beginning of the Burmese Movie era. This first movie was screened at Rangoon in November 1920. Since then through the passage of the 20s and ’30s, many Burmese-owned production houses opened in the capital.

The first Burmese talkie movie was directed in Bombay. Since then through the years till 1941 about 600 Burmese movies were produced. A large majority of these Burmese Movies produced were revolving around themes like love stories, legends, the occult or the supernatural. Some others were based on the Buddhist learning or history.

But slowly the technical proficiency of the production houses started improving. Talented directors made a considerable number of classic movies. Some of these movies were translated into Chinese and Russian.

Though the Burmese movie industry has improved since 1988, there is much room for improvement. The strong authoritarian environment induced by the Burmese Government hampers the creative brilliance of the Burmese Movie Industry.

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