The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk and its founding institutions, the European Film Academy, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and International Film Festival Rotterdam, together with 22 other leading festivals and film institutions, have called on Myanmar authorities “to immediately and unconditionally release filmmaker Ma Aeint.”
Ma Aeint was a producer and co-writer of Money Has Four Legs which ran in the New Currents competition at the 2020 Busan International Film Festival and is an alumna of FAMU Summer Filmmaking Initiation Campus, Locarno Open Doors Lab, as well as Ties That Bind.
Leaving her house on 5 June, she was detained and is currently being held in an undisclosed place, with no official explanation.
The ICFR statement, issued June 9, states: “We are very concerned for the well-being of Ma Aeint. We encourage all film and culture institutions around the world to join us in calling upon the Myanmar authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her. If there are any charges against her, they must be made clear, though her safety must first be guaranteed.”
Adds Mike Downey, International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk co-founder and Chair of the European Film Academy: “The Myanmar regime has arrested and imprisoned hundreds of artists and film industry professionals in a cynical and despicable rounding up of any dissident voices. The ICFR and this extraordinary list of key film events urgently calls for the for the immediate and unconditional release of Ma Aeint as well as all film industry professionals arbitrarily detained in Myanmar during the state of emergency. Our concern for the well-being of Ma Aeint is justified and we encourage all film and culture institutions around the world to join us in calling upon the Myanmar authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her.”
The other signatories are:
Berlin International Film Festival
Busan International Film Festival
FAMU
FERA
Festival de Cannes
Festival des 3 Continents
FIFDH
FSE
German Film Academy
Locarno Film Festival
MEMORY !
MOOOV
Movies that Matter
Quinzaine des réalisateurs Cannes
SEAFIC
Semaine de la Critique Cannes
Sundance Institute
Sydney Film Festival
Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
Udine Far East Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
Visions du Réel
