Private Project

Mi

“Mi” has nothing to lose. Everything to gain. But that doesn’t necessarily mean she is winning in life. “Mi” is dying of Tuberculosis (TB), a disease with no cure at the time (Post War Period). “Mi” couldn’t care less, with cigarettes and brandy as her close companions. Post-WWII Rangoon nightlife is her playground. She is popular among upper-class men and known for her cleverness and ability to fool men. No one knows her true back story.

Still, most men fall for her. Even though they knew that they would be played, men are always after “Mi”. Among those men, Mg Ko Lay is the young, naïve one and madly in love with “Mi” who treats him the same as other men. Unable to stand the emotional toll being with "Mi" causes him, Mg Ko Lay runs away from “Mi” by taking a job at a timber camp in the jungle, far away from Rangoon. There he meets Thaw Swe, his boss who treats him like his own brother. Thaw Swe gets to know “Mi”, through Mg Ko Lay’s nightly heartbroken confessions. Mi's regular taunting letters to Mg Ko Lay, drive him crazy. One day, Mg Ko Lay commits suicide. Thaw Swe got fired because of the incident.

Thaw Swe wants to meet “Mi” who could drive a man to his own death. Thaw Swe comes to Rangoon, wanting to teach “Mi” a lesson. When they meet, everything changes. Thaw Swe learns stories of “Mi” from a lot of different men. Each man has different stories of “Mi”. Thaw Swe could not figure out which one is true. Even though Thaw Swe knows “Mi” is fooling him, he, too, can’t help getting tangled with “Mi”. He soon realizes that he is becoming like Mg Ko Lay and finds himself trying to rescue “Mi” from herself.

But there is so much more that he doesn’t know about “Mi”. Later he gets mixed up in a Murder Case of a rich man who has a connection with "Mi". Is Mi innocent? Mi is dying anyway. What’s the motive? Thaw Swe doesn’t understand “Mi” from the beginning. “Mi” doesn’t try to prove her innocence either. Yet, Thaw Swe becomes an intimate player in the web of mystery that “Mi” has laid out, rife with dangers, corruptions, and deceits. Meanwhile, “Mi” has what she thinks is the bigger problem than any other thing, doubting her existence. Will Thaw Swe be able to help "Mi"? The real question is, “Does Mi really want to be helped?”

  • Na Gyi
    Director
    Mi
  • Na Gyi
    Writer
    Mi
  • Nwe Oo
    Producer
  • Paing Phyoe Thu
    Key Cast
    "Mi"
    Mi
  • Nay Toe
    Key Cast
    "Thaw Swe"
    Mi
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    မီ
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 55 minutes 49 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 9, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    200,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Myanmar
  • Country of Filming:
    Myanmar
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • (WINNER) Best Director of Photography, AIFFA 2019.
    Kuching
    Malaysia
    April 16, 2019
    Internation Premiere
    Best Director of Photography
  • (WINNER) Best Director of Photography, STAR AWARDS 2019.
    Yangon
    Myanmar
    October 10, 2018
    Local Premiere
    Best Director of Photography
  • (WINNER) Best Actress, STAR AWARDS 2019.
    Yangon
    Myanmar
    October 10, 2018
    Local Premiere
    Best Actress
  • (NOMINEE) Best Picture, AIFFA 2019.
    Kuching
    Malaysia
    April 16, 2019
    International Premiere
    Nomination (Best Picture)
  • (NOMINEE) Best Actress, AIFFA 2019.
    Kuching
    Malaysia
    April 16, 2019
    International Premiere
    Nomination (Best Actress)
  • (OFFICIAL SELECTION) Asean International Film Festival & Awards 2019
    Kuching
    Malaysia
    April 26, 2019
    International Prmiere
    Official Selection
  • (SCREENING) Asean Cinema Week, 2019.
    Busan
    Korea, Republic of
    November 16, 2019
    Korean Premiere
  • (OFFICIAL SELECTION) Cardiff International Film Festival 2020
    Cardiff
    United Kingdom
    October 31, 2020
    European Premiere
    Official Selection
  • (OFFICIAL SELECTION) Festival International de Cinema de Lleida Visual Art
    Lleida
    Spain
    October 29, 2020
    European Ptrmiere
    Official Selection
  • (OFFICIAL SELECTION) Luang Prabang Film Festival
    Luang Prabang
    Lao People's Democratic Republic
    December 5, 2020
    Lao Premiere
    Official Selection
  • (OFFICIAL SELECTION) Queens World Film Festival
    New York City
    United States
    June 23, 2021
    East Coast US Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Na Gyi

Na Gyi, Filmmaker.

Na Gyi is a writer, producer, and director, known for his feature films, “Mi” (2019) and “What Happened to the Wolf?” (2021). His debut feature film “Mi” won the best director of photography award at AIFFA (2019) and was nominated for the best picture award. “Mi” also won the best director of photography award at the STAR AWARDS (2019). His second feature film “What Happened to the Wolf” won the best film award at Hobnobben International Film Festival (2022), and the best narrative feature award at Dili International Film Festival (2021). Na Gyi is considered a promising and prominent filmmaker in Myanmar Cinema.

After the February 2021 coup d’état in Myanmar, the military junta violently captured and imprisoned thousands of people who participated in anti-coup and civil disobedience movements. Many protestors had to flee the country, Na Gyi is among them. The ruling junta issued arrest warrants under section 505 (A) against him. Na Gyi is still in Hiding.

Na Gyi was born in Yangon, Myanmar in 1981. He passed matriculation from BEHS (1), Dagon in 1998. During his study of engineering at Yangon Technology University, he left for London in 1999 for further study. He studied Digital Filmmaking at Raindance, London (2007).

Filmography

“What Happened to the Wolf?” (Feature Film, 2021)
Writer / Director

“What Happened to the Wolf?”, won Best Narrative Feature at Dili International Film Festival (2021).
“What Happened to the Wolf?”, won Best Actress (Saymour Cassel Award) and was nominated for
Best Film at Oldenburg International Film Festival (2021).


“MI” (Feature Film, 2019)
Writer / Director

“MI” won Best Director of Photography and was nominated for Best Actress, and Best Picture at ASEAN International Film Festival (2019).
“MI” won Best Director of Photography and Best Actress at the Stars Awards (2019), Local Academy Award.
“MI” was also officially selected for Cardiff International Film Festival (2020) and Festival International de Cinema de Lleida Visual Art (2020).
“Mi” was screened for ASEAN Cinema Week in Seoul, Busan, Jeju island, and Gwangju in 2019.


“Boma” (Feature Film, 2014)
Writer / Director


“Where do you come from, What are you doing and Where are you going?” (Feature Film, 2012)
Writer / Director


“London Tale” (Feature Film, 2008)
Writer / Director / Actor

“Let There Be Dark” (Feature Film, 2012)
Associate Producer

"Digital Art Festival", French-German Cultural Program (2009)
Video Artist

Na Gyi participated as Video Artist in Digital Art Festival which was the French-German Cultural Program in Third Countries (7th edition) with DJ Jay (Electronic Music, Myanmar), Doshy (Electronic Music, Germany), Kukue (Graphic Art, Myanmar), Pablito Zago (Graphic Art, France), Raspel (Video Art, Germany), The Unik (Electronic Music, France) and Two Twenty (Graphic Art, Myanmar) in November 2009 at Alliance Francis, Myanmar.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This is my very first feature film. To be able to shoot this feature in Myanmar, I had to wait through quite a lot of phases. I had to shoot music videos, TV commercials and short films to survive in the industry. But my dream always has been the feature. After 9 years, I am confident enough and gained trust from the productions to shoot a feature. Still it is very hard to pitch this kind of genre in Myanmar. Myanmar Cinemas are swamped with comedies and horrors.

Besides I chose a character driven script which is not familiar with Myanmar film audience. The story is there. But the dying, the murder and all the plots are not highlighted. This film is brutally about “Mi”. It was very risky for the production as well. The story is based on the novel of Kyi Aye who was really popular in Myanmar Literature around 1950s and 60s. The book itself is 70 years old. It’s been a while that we see a period film in Myanmar. I think it’s because of the budget size, and besides there are no professional teams for production design, wardrobe and makeup etc. But I decided to make this film a period piece even though I knew it would be a lot harder. If I change the time, the story would lose some of its value.

So I had to convince my friends who are also filmmakers to help me. Most of them are directors. They helped me in wardrobe and production design. Thanks to them, production value of the film is at this level despite of the budget. I was pushing myself a lot. You could see that in the film. I wrote the script myself , directed, produced and was the DP for the film as well. So that I could spend more money on production. I had to make it happened. It was hard to shoot 1950s scenes in Myanmar. Because there are lamp post, sign boards and CCTVs everywhere. I had to plan all the shots carefully in location scouts to avoid those clusters or decide whether we would remove it in post.

But above are not the hardest part of making “Mi”. My challenge was to capture someone’s boredom, hopelessness and misery, then not to be boring at the same time. This film is all about Mi’s existence. Monologue in book is fun. But to shoot character’s thoughts in film is another story. Images and montages are my tools. “Kyi Aye” told the story of “Mi” only through the men characters in the book. But it’s just through their thoughts, opinions and private feelings. So the story of “Mi” is vary depending on the teller. The informations we get are very unreliable. We could easily believe them or not. In that way, we could create our own “Mi”. I tried to keep it that way in my film. Well, at least I tried.