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14th DMZ Docs(2022)

I AM DOCU



Midwives

Snow Hnin Ei HLAING

  • Myanmar, Germany, Canada
  • 2022
  • 91min
  • 15 +
  • DCP
  • color

KP

Synopsis

Two women open a makeshift clinic in Rakhine State in western Myanmar. It is to help deliveries of Rohingya women who are suffering persecution as an ethnic minority in Myanmar. The two midwives, a Buddhist and a Muslim, spend five years together. The film documents the reality of Myanmar's society, where political chaos and racism intensify during that time, and a portrait of two women who struggle for coexistence despite having different backgrounds and never give upon their hopes and dreams.

Review

Thinking of discrimination as simple as choosing a side is like closing your eyes to what could be at its extremes. This is because it is easy to forget in this simplification that discrimination can cost someone a life. The life of the Rohingya, an ethnic minority in Myanmar, is a brutally explicit portrayal of the dangers of discrimination and exclusion. The Muslim Rohingya live in complete isolation in the Buddhist country of Myanmar, and their lives are threatened. As Muslims, the Rohingya live in complete isolation in the Buddhist country of Myanmar, and their lives are threatened. The film slowly shows the everyday attacks on them. Recognizing that their deaths are not so unusual, those who hate them set fire to their living quarters and deprive them of proper medical benefits. Two women of different religions work through this horrific situation together, firmly believing in the natural but dangerous truth that at least no one should die easily. Their challenge is a desperate gesture that saves some but puts others to shame.

Director

  • Snow Hnin Ei HLAING

    Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing has worked as a freelance filmmaker in Myanmar since 2006, acting as director, producer, editor, and sound recordist after attending film schools in both Myanmar and Germany. Her documentary short Burmese Butterfly played festivals in more than 20 countries. Midwives is her feature documentary debut.​ 

Credit