Career
Kyaw Thu made his film debut in 1984, and has starred in over 200 films and directed six films in a career spanning over two decades. In the 1980s and 1990s Kyaw Thu was one of the most successful leading men in Burmese cinema.
Kyaw Thu won the 1994 Myanmar Academy Award for Best Actor in Da-Byi-Thu Ma Shwe Hta (တပြည်သူမရွှေထား; lit. Miss Shwe Hta, the Foreigner). Many believe that Kyaw Thu would have won more awards had he been more pliant with the propaganda demands of Myanmar Motion Picture Organization (MMPO), which gives out the annual awards. Until 1994, he refused to do a propaganda film. In 1993, one of his films received popular and critical acclaim but failed to win a single award. In 1994, he finally agreed to do a pro-government film, and came his win with Da-Byi-Thu, which he feels is inferior to his previous work. He won his second academy award for 2003's Amay No Bo (အမေ့နို့ဖိုး) for best director.
His latest scuffle with the authorities—he was arrested in October 2007 for supporting the anti-government protests led by the monks—surely will not win him more awards. In October 2007, his latest HIV/AIDS awareness film, A-Kywin-Mè Longyon-Ya (အကြွင်းမဲ့ လုံခြုံရာ), has been blocked by the government censorship board.
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