Burma Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Htun Zaw Win, who uses the professional name Wyne, has been arrested in Myanmar following a year on the run evading charges of encouraging government employees to join protests against local military rule.

Two years ago this month, the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar witnessed a coup d’état, in which the Tatmadaw (the military) seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

An award-winning film director in Myanmar has been arrested almost a year after he was put on a wanted list for encouraging government employees to join in protests against military rule, a colleague and local media reported Thursday.

BANGKOK -- An award-winning film director in Myanmar has been arrested almost a year after he was put on a wanted list for encouraging government employees to join in protests against military rule, a colleague and local media reported Thursday.Htun Zaw Win, whose professional name is Wyne, was arrested Wednesday at his apartment in Yangon after spending most of the past year on the run, said the colleague, who is also a prominent figure in the entertainment industry. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of arrest.Wyne has won multiple awards for best director and best screenplay from the Myanmar Motion Picture Organization.

Naman Ramachandran Zhang Lu’s “Yanagawa” (China), Hong Sung-eun’s “Aloners” (South Korea) and Fujimoto Akio’s “Along the Sea” (Japan/Vietnam) were among the top award winners at France’s Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas. “Yanagawa,” which opened the 2021 Pingyao Film Festival, won the Golden Cyclo, the festival’s top honor awarded by the international jury.

EXCLUSIVE: Uri Singer and Aimee Peyronnet are teaming to acquire two works from the estate of French author Pierre Boulle, who wrote the novels The Planet of the Apes and The Bridge Over the River Kwai, which both were turned into iconic Hollywood movies.

Sean Penn has angered many after he doubled down on his claims that men have become “quite feminized” and this time, slammed men who wear skirts.

Manori Ravindran International EditorPBS’s long-running documentary showcase “POV” has picked up Sundance documentary contender “Midwives.”Directed by Snow Hnin El Hlaing and filmed over five years, the film — which premiered on Monday as part of the World Documentary Competition at the virtual Sundance Film Festival — is set in western Myanmar and tells the story of a makeshift medical clinic run by two women, Hla and Nyo Nyo, in a region torn apart by violent ethnic divisions.Hla, the owner of the clinic, is a Buddhist in the western region of the country, where Muslim minority community the Rohingya are persecuted and denied basic rights. Nyo Nyo is a Muslim and an apprentice ze who acts as an assistant and translator at the clinic.

EXCLUSIVE: London-based documentary sales outfit Dogwoof has picked up world rights to Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing’s debut feature documentary Midwives, which will premiere at Sundance this year.

Former Myanmar Leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was deposed by a military coup in February this year, has been given a four-year jail term for crimes of dissent and breaking Covid rules.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader has been sentenced to four years in jail for inciting dissent against the military and for breaching anti-COVID rules.Suu Kyi, who headed the civilian government during the country’s brief democratic interlude, was deposed on Feb.

Ciara's fears are less cold blooded today.On Aug.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Directors’ Guild of Japan has called on authorities in Myanmar to release filmmaker Maung Thein Dan. He has been detained and jailed pending a trial.Myanmar was wracked by a military coup on Feb.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMyanmar director Maung Sun says he fears for the future of his writing and producing partner Ma Aeint who now faces charges brought by the military junta.Ma Aeint was arrested in early June in Yangon and was held for a month in judicial detention. She has since been transferred to the notorious Insein Prison, where she is being treated as a political prisoner.

Christopher Vourlias Vienna-based sales outfit Square Eyes has acquired Saeed Taji Farouky’s “A Thousand Fires,” which will open the Locarno Film Festival’s Critics’ Week section.Set in the Magway region of Myanmar, which is home to one of the oldest oil industries in the world, “A Thousand Fires” is a portrait of a family in flux and a story of intergenerational conflict and compromise.

Spain, and who have not been double-vaccinated, will have to self-isolate at home for 10 days upon their return home.In a boost for holidaymakers, Croatia and Bulgaria will go green, meaning arrivals in Scotland will not have to isolate for 10 days on return regardless of their vaccine status.Hong Kong and Taiwan will also be added to the green list, while the British Virgin Islands will go amber.Cuba, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sierra Leone will be added to the red list, meaning 10 days of

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarnerMedia is to launch documentary series “Traffickers: Inside The Golden Triangle,” as an HBO Asia Original.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefRising filmmaker Ma Aeint has disappeared without trace after being arrested by authorities in Myanmar earlier this month. Her family has no knowledge of her whereabouts, nor formal explanation for her sudden detention.Ma Aient was a producer and co-writer on “Money Has Four Legs,” which appeared in the New Currents competition at the Busan International Film festival in 2020.

Britney Spears mesmerized the world two decades ago when she danced on stage at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards with a live Burmese python draped around her neck, while singing her hit ‘I’m a Slave 4 U.’  And, on June 7, she appeared to be feeling nostalgic for the moment when she dressed up in a skin tight snake-skin catsuit for a series of photos shared to her Instagram page.

lying to the FBI about his illegal work on behalf of foreign governments, and for several seditious comments during the 2020 election, appeared over the weekend at QAnon conference in Dallas. Adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory are widely supportive of the military coup in Myanmar and have embraced the treasonous idea that the US military should do the same thing here on behalf of Donald Trump.

The 2021 Miss Universe pageant is finally underway and the world finally has the new Miss Universe for the year. The show, which was delayed last year due to the ongoing coronavirus endemic, returned on May 16th to crown their new winner.

Irish President Michael D Higgins gave a sombre televised interview but it was his dog who stole the show.

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The situation in Myanmar remains dire, the International Coalition of Film makers at Risk (ICFR) has warned, with prominent cultural figures continuing to be imprisoned, and in some instances even killed. To date, more than 100 professionals from the local filmmaking community have been targeted for arrest, it said.

Prince Philip honoured his beloved uncle Lord Mountbatten in his choice of funeral music.The Duke of Edinburgh painstakingly organised his funeral in the years before his death last week aged 99.That included everything from selecting the vehicle taking his coffin to the service - a custom Land Rover he helped design - to choosing the music during the ceremony. Amongst that music is a nod to the Duke's beloved uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten of Burma, killed by an IRA bomb in 1979.

Myanmar newspaper include actors, musicians and social media influencers charged with violating Section 505(A) of the Penal Code for “spreading news to affect state stability.” The penalty for the offense is up to three years' imprisonment.A chart filling most of a page lists 20 people, along with photos, hometowns and Facebook pages of each.Several actors and directors were also charged in February, but the campaign against celebrity protest supporters was stepped up last week when

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefPaing Takhon, a prominent model and actor in Myanmar who has opposed the recent military coup, was arrested on Thursday. He is one of over 100 celebrities being sought by the military junta.“Some 50 soldiers with eight military trucks,” came to arrest him, his sister Thi Thi Lwin posted on Facebook.

Myanmar’s ruling junta stepped up its campaign against celebrities who support nationwide protests against its seizure of power, publishing wanted lists in the state press and warning against using their work. The move follows weeks of escalating violence by security forces in breaking up street protests against the Feb.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe deaths of at least 114 people on Saturday has put the crisis in Myanmar back on the front pages of media around the world. But the country’s government is trying hard to prevent such coverage.The country’s military seized power on Feb.