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Application is now open for the next YFS Beginners Workshop: the Art of Documentary Filmmaking, to be held in August 2012. Application is also now open for the next YFS Beginners Screenwriting Workshop to be held in August 2012. Writers with a proven track record in writing short stories, novels, poetry and/or journalism are welcome to apply. Writers who already have some screenwriting experience are also welcome, though the Workshop will begin from the first principles of writing for film.
For more information about both workshops and to download an application form please click here. Welcome to the Yangon Film School Stymied by the lack of further education opportunities there are no film schools in Myanmar as well as other constraints, many creative young people in Myanmar are crying out for inspiration and encouragement to develop their artistic skills. These talented people are also keen to support changes that are taking place in their country at grass roots level. Described by one local partner as a milestone in capacity building, the European non-profit organisation Yangon Film School (YFS) aims to create a diverse media culture in Myanmar by training a creative young workforce that is also capable of meeting the audiovisual needs of Myanmars development sector.

The Yangon Film School offers a range of audio-visual workshops for emerging Myanmar filmmakers that blends theory with practical, hands-on exercises. An inspired, dedicated team of international filmmakers comprise the tutor group. It is their aim to foster an environment of productivity and open-minded individual creativity.

The YFS own local production outfit, Yangon Film Services, has also made a name for itself as a creator of well-crafted documentaries and promotional films for a growing number of clients. These works cover an astonishing range of topics and locations throughout Myanmar.

Yangon Film School 2012 bout YFS Founded by Anglo-Burmese filmmaker Lindsey Merrison in 2005, the Yangon Film School (YFS) is a Berlin-based non-profit organisation that was created in order to support and encourage a burgeoning community of young media workers in Myanmar. Since its first pioneering

residential workshop in 2005, the trainings, and the cinematic output, have gone from strength to strength. YFS regularly brings together experienced filmmakers from around the world and young Burmese men and women, some of whom have little or no prior experience in media, for regular film trainings in Yangon, Myanmar on all aspects of filmmaking from screenwriting to editing. In just six years of activity, YFS has held over 15 workshops and trained some 50 students the majority of whom are still working in the media. These workshops have resulted in almost the same number of documentary and docufiction works. A growing number of YFS titles are being screened at international film festivals and some, such as A Sketch of Wathone, Again and Again, and A Million Threads, have even won awards. In 2009 several YFS graduates began receiving training as tutors in their own right. They are now passing on their knowledge to incoming students. YFS students hail from different ethnic backgrounds and all walks of life including film, journalism, literature, photography, fine arts and IT, but also the health and development sectors. Participants have responded to YFS courses with exemplary dedication and talent, and many regard the trainings as a unique source of inspiration that provides an inestimable boost to their self-confidence. Beginners courses in documentary take place every year. Candidates are welcome to submit applications on a rolling basis. Having produced its first client piece for the international non-governmental organisation Population Services International in 2006, the YFS local film production arm Yangon Film Services regularly creates films for local and international development organisations based in Myanmar. Filmed at locations all over the country from Kachin State in the north to the Ayeyarwaddy Delta in the south and covering an astonishing array of topics, these works represent an invaluable tool for the promotional output and health messaging of development organisations. Yangon Film Services The YFS actively seeks cooperation with local and international non-governmental organisations, capacity building organisations and aid agencies in Myanmar. By researching and recording reallife stories for the development sector, students at YFS acquire a deeper understanding of their environment and themselves. The filmmaking skills of YFS graduates afford organisations an invaluable means to communicate their message to the wider community and tell engaging stories about the impact that integrated development activities are having on the people of Myanmar. To date the YFS has worked alongside development organisations to produce over twenty tailormade documentaries and promotional films covering a variety of topics such as HIV/AIDS

awareness, community forestry, poverty alleviation, safe migration as well as initiatives in rice growing, irrigation, and education. Whether YFS filmmakers set up their cameras in rural Myanmar or in urban Yangon, their work exudes a sense of humanity and poise that has become the YFS signature style. Organisations for whom YFS has produced films include:

Population Services International Myanmar International Development Enterprise (now: Proximity) World Concern Metta Development Foundation Franois Xavier Bagnoud Myanmar Shalom Foundation ActionAid Pyoe Pin UNAIDS Save the Children Myanmar The British Council The British Embassy The Local Resource Centre The Eden Center

YFS also provides training for staff of non governmental organisations. Please see Application Form and Application Procedure for international non-governmental organisation applicants here. News

March 2012
Wathann Film Festival The Wathann Film Festival has openend its call for entries for Burmese Filmmakers. The submission period runs from 10 30 June 2012. For more information and to download an application form click here. Wathann Film Festival director, Thu Thu Shein, was interviewed about the event for the Myanmar Times. To read the interview and hear her thoughts about how the festival is developing click here. A Month of Screenings April is set to be a busy month of screenings of YFS films around the globe beginning with the European and Swiss premiere of award winning film Sweetie Pie by Sai Kong Kham. The film is being shown at the Vision du Rel International Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland, which, founded in 1969, is one of Europes oldest and most significant cinematic events for

documentaries from around the world. Sweetie Pie is running in the First Steps Award Competition. A couple of days later, the film will celebrate its German premiere at the International Student Film Festival, Sehschte, in Potsdam, Germany. Festival favourite, Charcoal Boy, will have its 14th festival screening and New Zealand Premiere at the Documentary Edge Film Festival in Auckland, New Zealand. Later this summer there will be a second screening in Wellington, New Zealand. Festival Dates 20 to 27 April, Vision Du Rel, Nyon, Switzerland. Sweetie Pie will be screened with the filmmakers in attendance on 22 April 2012 24 to 29 April, Sehschte International Student Film Festival, Potsdam, Germany. 26 April to 13 May, Documentary Edge Festival, Auckland, New Zealand. For a direct link to Charcoal Boy and the shorts section at Documentary Edge click here.

___ January 2012

We are pleased to announce the screening of the following films at various international film festivals around the world in the coming months: 3 7 February 2012, Lifescapes: Southeast Asian Film Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand Four YFS films are being screened at the second Lifescapes film festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand next month. The Game by director Maung Okkar, The Bamboo Grove by Khin Khin Hsu and Lay Thidas Bungkus will be screened in a small YFS Series as part of the programme, which includes a Q&A. Hnin Ei Hlaings film Burmese Butterfly is being shown in the Gender and Sexuality in SE Asian Film section. Directors Lay Thida, Maung Okkar and Hnin Ei Hlaing will be attending the festival. The festival aims to raise awareness of film culture and filmmakers of mainland Southeast Asia who make meaningful social commentary with their work showing the beautiful without flinching from grim reality. For more information about screening times and locations click here.

9 11 February 2012, Dam Short Film Festival, Boulder City, Nevada, USA Screening in the Documentary: Around the World section at the 8th short film festival to be held in Nevada is Maung Okkars first film Charcoal Boy about a teenager trying to make a big impression on the girl of his dreams. For more information about this screening click here. For more general information about the festival click here. 26 April 3 June 2012, Documentary Edge Festival, Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand Charcoal Boy is also being shown at this New Zealand film festival which, amongst other things, aims to give a voice to people and communities that are rarely or not heard and which showcases documentaries that are cutting edge and innovative in their genre, style, narrative and delivery. It will be shown first in Auckland and will then travel for a screening in the second part of the festival in Wellington. Form more information about the festival click here. 9 13 May 2012, Gttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival, Gttingen, Germany Hnin Ei Hlaings film Burmese Butterfly which provides a rare glimpse into the emergent gay community in Burma and Lay Thidas documentary Unreported Story, which deals with a young womans sad existence caught between a violent step-father and an indifferent mother, will be shown as part of the student competition section of this festival in Gttingen. For more information about the festival click here.

___ December 2011

Dear film students and filmmakers,
we would like to share with you news about a very interesting funding opportunity. The Jan Vrijman Fund (JVF) was created by one of the most prolific and professional documentary film festivals in the world, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). JVF is now calling for submissions. The Fund invites applications in particular from filmmakers living in the worlds poorest countries who are seeking a grant for a documentary project based in their country.

The Fund offers the following budgets to creative documentaries: Script and Project Development, maximum contribution 5,000 Production and Post-production, maximum contribution 17,500 Other activities, including distribution initiatives, documentary film festivals and documentary workshops 15,000 Submission Deadline is 15 January 2012 Find out more about the conditions here. For further help contact Johanna Huth at yfs.festivals@googlemail.com

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Deadline for YFS Management Vacancy Applications extended to 31 January, 2012. Stepping Up by Pe Maung Same
Rice Towards a better Future by Tay Zar Win Tun and Pe Maung Same The Floating Tomatoes by Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi (one of the few independent filmmakers in Myanmar) Aims The goal of the Yangon Film School is to found a permanent media centre with a steady film curriculum. This goal serves several concrete purposes: Advancement of the quality of local film production Development of a pool of professional filmmakers who understand public interest, nongovernmental organisations, and development-related work Strengthening of the local artistic community The primary focus of YFS trainings is the documentary, a form of artistic expression that can engage like no other media with a variety of humanitarian topics and provide incisive commentaries on everyday life in Myanmar. Alongside this, YFS provides workshops and trainings on screenwriting and fictional film production. YFS emphatically encourages its students to develop their own work be it documentaries, installations or screenplays and artistic identities. It is intended that the Yangon Film School be handed over to local filmmakers and management by 2015. By this time, it is hoped that YFS will have become a partly self-sufficient media centre, archive and library, generating its income from film courses, film production, as well as hire of its crews and facilities as a post-production house.

 Yangon Film School 2012 Activities

Workshops
The Yangon Film School brings together experienced filmmaking tutors from around the world and young Burmese men and women with prior experience in the media for regular film trainings in Yangon, Myanmar on a wide range of filmmaking aspects. These trainings place a particular emphasis on the documentary, but fictional filmmaking (albeit with a strong documentary ethos) is also taught.

Tutors
The Yangon Film Schools international team comprises experienced audiovisual professionals from at least seven different countries including Germany, the UK, Finland, Australia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Denmark. As of 2009 the school began training YFS graduates to pass on their skills to the new intake as part of a train-to-teach programme. The school also invites Guest Speakers from the local film industry and development sector in Myanmar and, as of 2011 has begun to network with other industry practicioners in Asia to enable its students to exchange experiences with their colleagues in the region.

Flying Mentorship Programme

The Yangon Film School sends mentors to Yangon throughout the year to advise and assist filmmakers in the YFS group on specific projects and productions regardless of whether they are intended for non-governmental organisations or are personal projects that have been initiated by members of the YFS group.

Yangon Film Services

Yangon Film Services was founded in 2006 by graduates of the Yangon Film School workshops. Several members of the YFS group have regularly produced documentaries for local and international non-governmental organisations, capacity building organisations and aid agencies. Among our regular clients are Save the Children Myanmar, Pyoe Pin, Shalom Foundation, World Concern and FXB Myanmar.

Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships are available for YFS courses for Myanmar nationals of both genders aged between 25 and 40. Candidates should be permanent residents of Myanmar. Participants are selected by the YFS Director and the YFS Committee on the basis of a written application, an interview and scrutiny of candidates previous work. Successful candidates come from all walks of life and from a variety of social and ethnic backgrounds. Previous media or filmmaking experience is an advantage but not essential. Evidence of an aptitude for, or a marked interest in, filmmaking and storytelling, as well as a commitment to building a career in Myanmar are essential to those wishing to apply. A working knowledge of English is preferable. It is a specific aim of Yangon Film School courses to encourage the empowerment of women in the media.

Training Programmes Abroad

The Yangon Film School cooperates with film schools, festivals and other industry organisations around the world to provide individual YFS students with an opportunity to train abroad. This cooperation takes the form of scholarships and/or internships lasting between two weeks and one year.

Festivals
YFS films are regularly submitted to international film festivals. Festivals at which YFS films have screened include: Asia Green Film Festival In Seoul, Seoul, Korea Vientianale, Vientiane, Laos Lifescapes South East Asian Film Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand EBS International Documentary Festival (EIBF), Seoul, Korea Thai International Short Film Festival, Bangkok, Thailand Doi Saket International Film Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand Guanghzou International Documentary Film Festival, Guanghzou, China Docu Days, Alliance Francaise, Yangon, Myanmar Europe Visions du Reel, Nyon, France Zebra Poetry Festival, Berlin, Germany Arts Film Festival, Paris, France In the Palace International Short Film Festival, Balchik, Bulgaria

Mo & Friese Childrens Short Film Festival, Hamburg, Germany Open City London Film Festival, London, Great Britain Lago Film Fest, Lago, Italy Regensburger Short Film Week, Regensburg, Germany Sehschte, International Student Film Festival, Potsdam, Germany Munich International Festival of Filmschools, Munich, Germany One World Film Festival, Prague, Jihlava, Czech Republic Film Caravan Wandering Film Festival, Imperia, Liguria, Italy Festival de Cinema de Douarnenez, Douarnenez, France Zrcher Theaterspektakel, Zrich, Switzerland exground film festival, Wiesbaden, Germany Heinrich Boell Foundation, Berlin, Germany International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany FAMU International Student Film Screening,Prague, Czech Republic Burmese Arts Festival, London, Great Britain Hannover-up-and-coming Film Festival in Hannover, Germany Asian Connection Festival du Cinma Asiatique in Lyon, France Festival International Signe de Nuit festival de lart documentaire et de cration audio-visuelle et cinmatographique, Paris, France Interfilm International Short Film Festival, Berlin, Germany Viv Rencontre Cinma, Grigny, France Traumzeit Festival, Duisburg, Germany North America National Geographic Allroads Film Festival in Washington and Los Angeles, USA Palm Springs International ShortFest, Palm Springs, California, USA LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA South America Brazil International Disability Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Brazil Australia Sydney Film Festival, Sydney, Australia

Awards
Best Documentary Award at Wathann Filmfest 2011 in Yangon, Myanmar Sweetie Pie by Sai Kong Kham National Geographic Allroads Award for Best Short Film A Sketch of Wathone by Kyi Phyu Shin Special Mention at the Zebra Poetry Festival Again and Again by The Maw Naing

Heinrich Boell Foundation Documentary Award A Million Threads by Thu Thu Shein Like Father, Like Son by Pe Maung Same Into the Ring by Aung Ko Ko Just a Boy by Lay Thida See more films HERE

Film Archive
The Yangon Film School is collating a Film Archive of material filmed by YFS filmmakers, on all manner of events social, cultural and natural.

Film Library
Numbering some 200 titles, this library contains historical film examples of world cinema, documentaries and books on filmmaking. This growing collection is rapidly becoming an invaluable resource for a whole generation of filmmakers.

Television Partners
YFS began cooperating with MRTV 4 in Myanmar in 2007. Since then, two YFS films Peace of Mind and A Day with Aye Nan Lin have been broadcast to audiences in Myanmar of up to one million viewers. The Yangon Film School is currently developing further cooperation with broadcasters both inside and outside Myanmar.