Original title: လိပ်ပြာလင်္ကာ
Directed by Sai Naw Kham
Duration 71’ | Shan with English subtitles
Production Country, Year Myanmar, 2023 | Produced by Soe Arkar Htun | Director of Photography Soe Kyaw Htin Tun | Sound Zaw Lar, Mann Paye Phyo Aung | Music Ramo, Kyaw Ko Ko | Editor Sai Naw Kham
Shan folk singer Nan Mya Han was a star when she was young. Now that she is older her metaphorical verses reflect the deep sense of loss that pervades a people battered by Myanmar’s ruinous politics. Interweaving her songs with compelling scenes of rituals around healing, death and birth, the film transcends the purely observational to become a multilayered, elliptical exploration of decay and impermanence that is both moving and totally mesmerising.
Sai Naw Kham made his first foray into directing in 2014 with The Crocodile Creek, a short film which merged myth and memory to explore present-day environmental issues in Myanmar’s Yangon River. His next film, 32 Souls, portrays one woman’s memories in this war-torn part of Myanmar. Song of Souls is his first feature-length documentary.