Midwives

Following the screening, there will be a poetry reading by artist Zoncy Heavenly and a conversation with activist and writer Ma Thida, moderated by Sarnt Utamachote.

This screening is a solidarity event aimed at raising funds to support the victims of the earthquake on March 28, 2025, which has also impacted Thailand. This disaster sheds light on ongoing oppression by the Min Aung Hlaing government, wars against ethnic minorities, and systemic corruption in the country.

Proceeds from ticket sales, after covering operational costs for the evening, will be donated to Mutual Aid Myanmar. Additionally, QR codes linking to other trustworthy NGOs will be available during the screening for audiences who wish to contribute further.

Following the screening, there will be a poetry reading by artist Zoncy Heavenly and a conversation with activist and writer Ma Thida, moderated by Sarnt Utamachote.

Photo prints by Min Ma Naing will be on display and available for purchase in the cinema lounge.

Midwives tells a story of solidarity between two women who, despite their different ethnic and religious backgrounds (Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohinya), come together to establish a local midwifery clinic in their village in Rakhine State, western Myanmar. Over time, they build a system of kinship and care, extending their support to women there, in the midst of civil wars and violence. Spanning several years, the film explores female agency amid war, political instability, and moments of profound vulnerability. The film was released after Myanmar's 2021 military coup.

Ma Thida is an award-winning dissident writer and human rights activist from Myanmar. She spent six years in prison in the 1990s, which she wrote about in her acclaimed memoir, Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein. In the book she details her use of vipassana meditation to get her through the untold hardships of jail. Ma Thida has published more than a dozen books as well as short stories and she has worked as an editor and a surgeon. She was awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award and the Reebok Human Rights Award and is currently the chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

Zoncy Heavenly is an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on immateriality in body-based arts, the intangibility of collective trauma, and contemporary concepts in phenomenology. She has been living and working in Berlin since August 2022.

Min Ma Naing, a Myanmar exile artist based in Berlin, began her career as a photojournalist before transitioning to a slow contemporary documentary practice. She co-founded Myanmar’s first women photographers’ collective, Thuma, to challenge gender inequality within the industry. Beyond image-making, she uses photobooks as art objects to invite viewers into an intimate engagement with her narratives. Drawing from her experiences of exile and diaspora, her recent work intertwines personal history with themes of political upheaval and border regimes.

Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing has worked as a freelance filmmaker in Myanmar since 2006, acting as director, producer, editor, and sound recordist after attending film schools in both Myanmar and Germany. Her documentary short Burmese Butterfly played festivals in more than 20 countries, and PERIOD@PERIOD won for Best Short at the Wathann Film Festival. Her debut feature documentary, Midwives, premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Excellence in Verité Filmmaking Award. It also won several awards at international film festivals, including Asian Competition Grand Prize and Next Award at the DMZ International Film Festival in Korea. Midwives screened at over 40 international festivals, including CPH:Dox, Hot Docs, San Francisco, DOK.fest Munich, Sheffield, and IDFA’s Best of Fests. The film was released in Germany, the UK, and the USA, and nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Due to Myanmar's political situation, Snow now lives in exile in Berlin for security reasons.

Sarnt Utamachote (ษาณฑ์ อุตมโชติ) is a Southeast Asian nonbinary filmmaker and curator based in Berlin. They curated “In Nobody’s Service” at Galerie Wedding and was a part of the team of “Echoes of the Brother Countries” at HKW Berlin. They also work as a film programmer at Short Film Festival Hamburg and XPOSED Queer Film Festival Berlin.

Links to fundraiser where you can donate: BETTER BURMA (USA), MUTUAL AID MYANMAR, MEDICAL ACTION MYANMAR (UK)