Precious

Synopsis

A short documentary observing some of the people involved in the – often risky – business of gemstone extraction in Myanmar.

Director's Biography

A member of the Lisu ethnic group, David Kyaw Thet Aung (born in 1985) was a freelance jewel broker from Mogok Township in Mandalay Division in Myanmar before he decided to try his hand at filmmaking. As a student of the School’s 2012 intake, he quickly demonstrated his skill as a cinematographer on My Grandfather’s House which screened at several international film festivals, and also on a commissioned work, Welcome to Lashio. He picked up a camera again in 2021 to film fellow-alumna Lin Hnin Aye’s atmospheric ethnographic portrait of a Lisu shaman – Sound of the Spirits. Precious was his debut as a director.

Screenings

June, 2014
Human Rights, Human Dignity International Film Festival
Yangon, Myanmar
December, 2014
Watch Docs Human Rights Film Festival
Warsaw, Poland

Director's Filmography

2013

13‘45‘‘

2014
Precious

Director/Cinematographer

16‘6‘‘

2014

43‘37‘‘

2023

Cinematographer

63‘0‘‘

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'A fascinating and well-crafted insight into a line of work that is almost synonymous with Myanmar. The way the film compares two of the country's precious natural resources – rubies and children – is wonderfully philosophical.'

Goethe-Institute Myanmar Documentary Award Jury

Pictures