Teaser Trailer | Three Strangers | A Myanmar LGBTQ Documentary About A Queer Family From Rakhine

Описание: On the western coastline of Myanmar, a queer couple and their adopted son build a family and navigate the complexities of belonging.

● Myanmar human stories through the lens of local filmmakers ●

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Three Strangers
Directed by Lamin Oo
Instagram: @laminoodles

SYNOPSIS

Gwa To, a transgender man from a remote village in Rakhine, plans for relationship impermanence, assuming all women will eventually move on to “real” men. Ma Soe, a high school dropout with a traveling troupe, has sworn off marriage because she doesn’t want to end up with a drunk like her father. At a village event, Gwa To sees Ma Soe sing and falls in love. After a brief period of courtship, Ma Soe and Gwa To live together as a couple. Their relationship is tested when Gwa To brings home a two-month old boy, Phoe Htoo, put up for adoption.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

I grew up away from my parents when I was little. I was raised by my grandmother while my parents worked in a town more than 200 miles away. This is not entirely unusual in Myanmar; I know many people who were raised by their relatives instead of their biological parents. But this lack of parental love in my early age had a big impact on me. It’s a wound I continue to nurse to this very day.

I met Gwa To and Ma Soe in 2015. I was shooting a short film near their village. At the time, I thought it was interesting to see a queer couple living together in such a small and remote village in Rakhine state, one of the poorest places in Myanmar. I was intrigued. A few months later, I discovered that they had an adopted son - Phoe Htoo. As soon as the subject of Phoe Htoo’s adoption came up, their eyes lit up and they poured out the story of their lives together in one sitting. I was deeply touched by their love for Phoe Htoo, and the courage it took for them to build this little family. They are not a rich family. lThey work hard, everyday, to put food on the table. And they carry an abundance of love for this child who is not their biological son, but someone who has become even closer to them than the bonds that flesh-and-blood family ties can make.

Their story makes me think of my own childhood: what it could have been if I was raised by my own parents. But more importantly, it gave me a chance to understand the strength of parental love and what it means to be a family. I made this documentary as a tribute to this unconditional love and the bonds that it creates.

CONTEXT

The LGBTQ community in Myanmar is often marginalized within Myanmar. Through a combination of conservative social norms, religious beliefs, and repressive antihomosexual colonial laws, members of the LGBTQ community are subjected to persecution and discrimnation. Section 377 of Myanmar’s Penal Code was created in 1861 criminalizes same-sex relationships to harsh prison sentences that range from 10 years to life in prison.

The civil liberities of the LGBTQ community remained largely unchanged under the military rule in Myanmar from the 60s to early 2000s under military rule. The political reforms starting from early 2011, helped with improvements in media and civil freedoms which allowed the LGBTQ community more visibility within the general public. This has to a certain extent changed some public perception and tolerance towards the LGBTQ. Despite the slight change in public perceptions anti LGBTQ laws have not been revoked till today.

FILM FESTIVALS

16th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival 2021, Indonesia

#Myanmar #LGBTQ #Documentary