Cinema of Burma - Recent History

Recent History

In the era that followed the political events of 1988, the film industry has been increasingly controlled by the government. After the 1989 move by the government to open up the economy, the movie industry was privatized. The film company Mingala became the most powerful company in the industry. Film stars who had been involved in the political activities of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Aung Lwin and Tun Wai, were banned from appearing in films. The films of some directors such as Win Pe have also been banned. The government issues strict rules on censorship and largely determines who produces films, as well as who gets academy awards.

Over the years, the movie industry has also shifted to producing many lower budget direct-to-video films.

Most of the movies produced nowadays are comedies. In 2008, only 12 films worthy of being considered for an Academy Award were made, although at least 800 VCDs were produced.

Another issue plaguing the Burmese cinema is a steep decline in the number of theaters in which to screen the films. According to a December 2011 survey, the number of theaters nationwide had declined to just 71 from their peak of 244. The survey also found that most were several-decade-old aging theaters, and that only six "mini-theaters" had been built in 2009–2011. Moreover, the vast majority of the theaters were located in Yangon and Mandalay alone.