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The Stillness Momentos

A fiction film about three Burmese illegal immigrant filmmakers trying to make their first documentary film.

  • Organic
    Director
  • Organic
    Writer
  • The Buffalo Studio
    Producer
  • Organic
    Key Cast
    "Khin Maung Zin"
  • Cantaloupe
    Key Cast
    "HR Guy"
  • Karl T
    Key Cast
    "Kyaw Tont"
  • Cantaloupe
    Editor
  • Karl T
    Audio Mixer
  • Ki Nyo
    Production Manager
  • Maple
    Translation
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Melodrama, poetry, Comedy
  • Runtime:
    42 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 8, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    275 THB
  • Country of Origin:
    Myanmar
  • Country of Filming:
    Thailand
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital,1080p, H.264, MP4
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Organic

Hi! I am Organic, and the seniors from my very first scriptwriting workshop gave me that nickname, and I really liked that name. I was from Myanmar, a chaotic country, and I am just one of the young guys who seek the beauty in chaos. Before I sensed the war in my experiences, my poems only carried the masked beautiful words. As I became an exile from my country, I got those experiences and feelings an illegal immigrant has. Being an exile and illegal immigrant called out a lot of limitations. But I have my freedom of expression. As my language of expression, I chose films. I wanted to create. Without schools and verification of a citizen, I got people to study with. Exile filmmakers, workshops, seniors, and self-study are mentors for my filmmaking. But studying is different from shooting, and it is crazy to make first films with unnecessary limitations. Luckily! After two years of training, I meet with some guys who can be the word WE. With the start of the Buffalo studio, our filmmaking journey began. After 23 years of living, I got the story of two films we created, and I like those kinds of stories in my life experiences.

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Director Statement

If I have to say something about The Stillness Momentos, I should start with our Buffalo Guys stories. I am absolutely positive that the film actually came from our real lives as we ended with a poetry melodrama film; at least it was poetic to us. My studying arc for my filmmaking journey took about two years. It was almost the same timeline of me living illegally without a country to represent. But I met with guys from our Buffalo studio who are under the same pressure and atmosphere with me. We have common feelings through different experiences. We wanted to create films every time we watched films. Being illegal immigrants forced us to face unnecessary limitations. Besides devices, security concerns, and mental states, we didn't even have the freedom to shoot outdoors. Being oppressed with those situations motivated us to make this film. We really wanted to see what we can do with what we have. We had three main characters for our film: the director, the editor, and the audio mixer. For devices, we got HD-quality mobile phone cameras, and for settings, we got our whole office building. So we decided to go for it, filming a film about making a film. Being a melodrama, we got the whole background stories and totally knew our characters' struggles. As we tried to express it, we ended up talking live dialogues, also so many unnecessary ones that the editor had to cut out. As we tried to build the script while shooting the live dialogue scenes in the daytime and rebuild the story while editing at night, the total production took about two weeks. Just before we got the first draft, we decided to name the film "The Stillness Momentos," as we enjoyed every moment of the production process.