Musical satire banned in Burma
The Irrawaddy (via) reports that Burmese authorities have banned a video compact disc (VCD) depicting a traditional anyein performance on the grounds that some of the content is critical of the military government.
Anyein is a form of traditional entertainment that combines music, dance, opera and satirical comedy.
The VCD, titled say yaung sone, or “The Colorful,” by the Burmese director known simply as Godzilla, was officially banned on Tuesday. Its script had at first made it past Burma’s draconian Press Scrutiny Review Board, but the subsequent release of the VCD led authorities to ban it, according to an actor living in Rangoon who requested that his name not be used.
According to a source familiar with the film industry in Burma, performances on the disc included a reference to electricity shortages in the country, problems with public health assistance, Burma’s national football team and the news readers on Burma’s state-run MRTV network.
Anyein is a popular part of Burmese cultural life, but in the last decade troupes have been prohibited from performing in public.
Films by Burma’s best-known comedian Zarganar are among the most frequently banned in Burma. The most recent examples, from May of this year, include Thee Makhan Nai Taw Bu (Intolerance), Mee Chit (The Lighter) and Shar Shay Kya Thu Myar (The Chatterbox).
One Rangoon-based director said that performers in banned movies face growing difficulties finding future work, as producers are reluctant to hire them for fear that their works will be banned as well.
One Rangoon-based director said that performers in banned movies were facing increasing difficulties with finding future work, as producers are reluctant to hire them for fear that their works will be banned as well. “Our life consists of not being able to do or say what we want to do or say. To raise the quality of our films to the international level, it would be good if there was no censorship in Burma,” he said.
Friday 01 Dec 2006 | Paul | Burma
