The ring of truth
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A drama about Kayan women's exploitation in Thailand hits the big screen
A feature film on Myanmar’s ethnic Kayan people, whose women are famous for their brass neck coils, began screening in Myanmar cinemas at the weekend.
“Kayan Beauties” centres on the tale of three Kayan women from a village in Kayah State and their quest to find a Kayan girl who was kidnapped by human traffickers. The story exposes the real-life problem of Kayan women exploited as tourist attractions in mock villages over the border in Thailand.
Film director Aung Ko Latt said he made the film in order to raise public awareness of the Kayan people and to portray their unique culture.
“I want to show to the world that they [the Kayan tribe] are originally from Myanmar, not from any other country,” Latt says, adding “My second purpose is to show that the Myanmar film industry has the capacity to create top-quality movies worthy of screening overseas.”
Since 2006, Aung Ko Latt and scriptwriter Hector Carosso have made several fact-finding missions to Kayan villages for the film.
Shooting of the film, which lasted about three months in 2008, took the crew to remote yet beautiful locales like Pekon, Monhbye, Panpat, Lawbarkho and Taunggyi in Kayah and Shan states.
The film stars Nwe Ni Win, Khin Mar Win, and Hnin Mai as the lead actresses. All four underwent rigorous acting training for eight months after they were selected.
Work on post-production in Bangkok was tough and lengthy, says Latt, but financial support from sponsors meant he finally finished the film in early 2012.
He then took it to this year’s Asean International Film Festival, in March, where it drew much attention, winning the Special Jury Award as well as nominations for Best Director of Photography and Best Supporting Actress.
