Children reciting, “ႁူင်းႁဵၼ်းဢွၼ်ႇ ႁူင်းႁဵၼ်းဢွၼ်ႇ မီးလင်လဵဝ် မီးႁိမ်းပႃႇမႆ့ၶဵဝ်”, meaning “a small and a lone school, standing by the greeny woods”, from a Shan poetry titled “A School in the Forest”, could be heard coming from an old pavilion in the valley.
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The distant sounds of children reciting a Shan poem in the opening scene captivated the audience and piqued their interest in continuing to watch the film.
The film depicts the military’s brutality and abuses committed against civilians in Shan State in the 1990s.
Some of the unforgettable and distressing scenes from the movie include a couple traveling on a bullock cart, which is stopped and interrogated by the soldiers, who finally shoot and kill the wife. Other distressing scenes depict soldiers rampaging through the market and randomly opening fires, and a scene where a bunch of soldiers forcefully take the village leader.
“I had never thought of myself being the director of a film, which also invites the audience to salute and give respect to the Shan Flag as the movie started,” the young director wrote in a social media post.
The film, titled “The Teacher & The School,” was created and shot by the students.
The film was directed by a young Shan man named Sai Htam Hkay.
“We spent four months preparing our trainees, crew members, and actors before shooting the film. The story is based on actual events,” Sai Htam Hkay, the director and coach, explained.
The film is in Shan, however there are English subtitles. Although it is barely 30 minutes long, the film explicitly shows military atrocities.
The film is not just for Shan audiences; everyone who wants to comprehend the military’s atrocities against the people of Shan State during those times should see it.
The film is set in the 1990s, when the military carried out its “Four Cuts” program against the Shan people through violations and brutalities. The central theme of the film is the military’s “Four Cuts” policy, which includes a prohibition on teaching and learning the Shan language.
The film also depicts a love story between a teacher and a doctor, as well as some disturbing moments, such as soldiers raping and killing women and villagers stepping on landmines set up by the military on their route to their farmlands.
Sai Htam Hkay added, “The film is based on historical tragic events that occurred under the military’s Four Cuts policy in the 1990s. We shot the film over the course of ten days. It is only 30 minutes “
A group of Shan youths produced and filmed the movie in one of Shan State’s liberated territories.
In an interview with S.H.A.N, filmmaker Sai Htam Hkay stated that he hoped to get the film screened in cinemas in Japan and Thailand.
