tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24379496356999449932024-03-18T12:26:26.091-04:00The Southeast Asia Movie Theater ProjectThe Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project is a photographic archive of stand-alone movie theaters in Southeast Asia.Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.comBlogger460125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-56150641271441967512020-11-12T10:42:00.002-05:002020-11-14T21:19:01.659-05:00The Min Thiha Cinema - Katha, Sagaing Region, MyanmarIn the book Burmese Days, George Orwell's account of colonial life in backwater Burma is set in a little town called Kyauktada, which is a fictionalized Katha. The latter is where Orwell spent a year serving the British empire as a cop, and where he compiled most of the rotten little details that he ultimately knit together into his literary classic. Katha is remote as far as Burmese towns Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com194Katha, Myanmar (Burma)24.1821187 96.3305831-18.167592530936286 26.0180831 66.531829930936283 166.6430831tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-17528337063182708232020-05-12T17:53:00.000-04:002020-07-05T15:40:37.057-04:00The San Thit U Cinema - Myanaung, Irrawaddy Region, Myanmad
It's hard to believe that just three short months ago I was lugging my camera around Myanmar looking for old theaters to shoot. If you'd have told me then that in a few weeks time the world would be in the midst of a pandemic induced lockdown, I'd have politely dismissed you as another peddler in conspiracy theories. But lo and behold, here we are.
Three months ago I was happily Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-58354014987300199002019-12-15T08:08:00.001-05:002019-12-15T23:40:39.663-05:00The Nay Pyi Daw Revisited - Mandalay, MyanmarFrom Mogok in the mountains I journeyed back down to the lowlands and the dusty streets of Mandalay. A solid six hour drive by car, repressing vomit all the way.
If I haven't professed my disappointment at what has become of Mandalay, the storied former capitol of the Kingdom of Burma, let me do so - in brief - now.
Mandalay has been the victim of two waves of destruction in recent times. In Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-89720751137918940482019-08-23T14:40:00.000-04:002019-12-14T04:09:59.462-05:00The Kithi Cinema - Mogok, Mandalay Region, MyanmarThere's a bit of magic being performed upon Myanmar's movie theaters these days. A celestial twist of collective fate that has been working its way from town to charm-stuffed town across the country. The magic is that for the past couple of years a good number of theaters have been ushered out of purgatory, and the eventual rubble heap, through the shimmering gates of salvation. That's right, oldPhilip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-83040640501464935172019-05-28T22:16:00.003-04:002019-08-02T15:58:31.999-04:00The Baho Cinema - Mogok, Mandalay Region, Myanmar
The 6 hour car ride from Mandalay to Mogok began at dawn. Soon after passing the city limits we became entangled in a sea of oncoming motorbikes, crawling in from the outskirts to city center. This daily commute of rural labor into the booming markets of Mandalay was further exacerbated by an over turned truck blocking one half of the road a few miles out. Once past the twisted metal, with its Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-41357159921755571132019-04-21T19:59:00.001-04:002019-04-22T07:09:24.073-04:00The Aung Mingala Cinema - Nyaunglebin, Bago Region, Myanmar
On the opposite end of town from the YMBA Cinema - a straight shot if you follow to the street parallel to the train tracks - is old Nyaunglebin. This section of town flourished in the heyday of train travel. The British-built system that slinks its way across Myanmar was at the forefront of the modern market economy when it opened - piecemeal, one section at a time - in the early 20th century. Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-87927412841536830082019-03-08T12:19:00.001-05:002019-03-09T14:18:34.227-05:00The Young Men's Buddhist Association Cinema Hall - Nyaunglebin, Bago Region, Myanmar
The Young Men's Buddhist Association has a storied history in Myanmar. Founded in 1906 to promote Burmese Buddhist values during the height of British colonial rule, the organization was an early incubator of the anti-colonial movement. It was at the insistence of YMBA members that the "footwear controversy" - a long-running debate between the Burmese Buddhist clergy and British officialdom overPhilip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-37401666516275457112018-12-26T12:03:00.001-05:002019-02-14T06:39:32.924-05:00This Blog is not DeadThis blog is not dead and I can prove it. Just last week I was out in the field digging up the remains of old movie theaters which will be written up into drivulous little essays in due time. At this point I've got a backlog of material dating to 2015, October, which I've neglected to get around to for one reason or another.
Actually, the reasons are two fold. One, as I stand awkwardly on the Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com80tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-25297768370452431102018-10-05T13:11:00.002-04:002018-10-06T10:22:57.199-04:00The Myoma Cinema - Letpadan, Bago Region, Myanmar
Letpadan had not been on my radar until early 2016, when, while at a photo exhibition in Yangon, I saw some shots of university students clashing with police there from the year before. Those images were the first I'd heard of the town, leaving me with an impression of a contentious little place full of disaffected youth and brutish cops.
Later on, a few older Myanmar friends Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com313tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-55845348549777566702018-08-15T12:48:00.000-04:002018-08-15T12:48:41.716-04:00The Yadana Win Cinema - Thonze, Bago Region, MyanmarWelcome to the "midlands" of Myanmar. Myay Latt, as the locals call it. This verdant section of the country spans the immediate northwest of Yangon, following the Yangon-Pyay train line up to its terminus in Pyay. Dotting the railroad, between emerald paddy fields and patches of scruffy forest, are a series of typical Myanmar towns. Low-rise, low-tech, quaint and human scaled. Products, mostly, Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-75424026535729308682018-07-12T23:00:00.000-04:002018-10-04T15:25:30.268-04:00The Padaythar Cinema - South Okkalapa, Yangon, MyanmarPutting aside reports of ethnic cleansing going on in Rakhine State and the many unfulfilled political expectations, Myanmar as a whole has received glowing press coverage over the past several years. The super charged economy pegged to government reform, blossoming democracy and a budding arts and culture scene have made for many a fancy read about Southeast Asia's "final frontier."
That's Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-33798711650429979942018-05-25T01:01:00.000-04:002018-05-27T14:59:33.735-04:00Goodbye, Lido
This movie is a real tear-jerker sans the Hollywood ending. For those that take pleasure - if not refuge - in vintage movie theaters, it's essentially a tragedy.
The story comes to a tragic finale with The Lido Theatre, one of Bangkok's foremost cinema institutions of the past 50 years, closing down at the end of May. All indicators point to a complete overhaul of the vintage movie theater.Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-85641601997573173132018-04-08T21:24:00.001-04:002018-04-08T21:25:20.118-04:00The Shae Saung Cinema RevistedThere are two noteworthy sights on Sule Pagoda Road, Upper Block. The Nay Pyi Daw and Shae Saung cinemas.This duo of "Burmese Polychrome Theaters," both tidily maintained by Mingalar Cinemas, are the last vintage structures left on one of the most high profile blocks in the country. All other old buildings, including two more cinemas that once stood across the street, have been Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-66658796721484181922018-03-16T09:07:00.000-04:002018-03-16T09:07:40.411-04:00The Migalar Waziya AKA Waziya 2 Cinema - Hlaingthaya Township, YangonIt would take nothing short of a military dictatorship feigning benevolence to erect a movie theater like the Waziya 2 Cinema up in Hlaingthaya Township on the outskirts of Yangon. I don't mean that cynically. Back in the early 1990's, no bottom-line minded private theater operator would have had the gumption to plop a massive movie hall in the middle of a rice field in the sticks. Stuff like Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-60716406170685362832018-03-01T13:01:00.000-05:002018-03-01T13:01:54.993-05:00Things to come from the #theaterhunt The trip was grueling. In 23 days, 27 towns were visited. Some for no more than a few minutes. Or just long enough to learn that there were no theaters left to shoot.
Of all the predictions listed in my pre-departure post only a handful occurred. No run ins with raging ethno-nationalists, thankfully, nor any skin contact with scalding tailpipes. I was sidelined by a case of the green-apple Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-66389544072403796692018-01-28T06:32:00.000-05:002018-01-28T10:16:14.642-05:00A Route to Myanmar's Movie TheatersFor the third consecutive year, ye olde Myanmar map will be put to good use. From my starting line in Yangon, I plan on moving in a northwesterly direction up through Western Bago and then zig-zag my way across Magwe, Mandalay and Sagaing Regions. Barring any holdups, the survey should end in either Myitkyina, Bhamo or Kalay before heading back down to Yangon by the 21st of February. Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-62611699359138132762018-01-14T23:36:00.000-05:002018-01-28T03:14:05.432-05:00The Myoma Cinema - Ye-U, Sagaing Region, Myanmar
World War II history buffs, here's one that you might appreciate.
Shortly after the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942, the bucolic little burg of Ye-u in Sagaing Region got caught up in the ravages of war. The town's freshly minted Myoma Cinema was commandeered by the occupiers and put to use for nefarious purposes. Specifically, a subterranean chamber was built beneath the auditorium,Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-38212101483700018892018-01-07T22:25:00.000-05:002018-01-07T23:27:06.039-05:00Mingalar Cinemas sponsors 2018 Myanmar Theater SurveyMingalar Cinemas has been on my radar quite a bit of late. The Yangon-based movie theater chain (Myanmar's largest) has been quietly opening new locations across the country, venturing beyond their traditional mainstays of Yangon and Mandalay. Last December they opened their first branch in Mon State. Prior to that, they opened new theaters in Pyay, Bago and Magwe, while also increasing their Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-10868625461377261222017-12-25T10:14:00.004-05:002020-03-19T00:38:12.740-04:00One Person's Trash
In the days before the corporate world came to reign supreme over the movie exhibition business, movie theaters had a whole lot more character than they do today. That goes for just about everything from the architecture of the theaters themselves, right down to the tickets they sold.
Speaking of tickets, it wasn't so long ago that tickets to movies in Thailand had real charm to them. While Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-74968954885748320742017-12-21T11:20:00.003-05:002017-12-21T11:20:56.345-05:00The Pruttinan Theater - Ranong, Thailand
Ranong is the only province in Thailand's south that still projects a frontier character. From a few choice angles it feels almost as if the choke of the jungle was hacked away just a few years prior.
There's a well warranted historical precedent for Ranong's frontier quality. Besides having an active border crossing - a frontier in the most literal sense - from the late 19th up into the Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-38823283991692907292017-11-26T10:11:00.000-05:002017-11-26T10:11:20.932-05:00The Bang Saphan Noi Theater - Bang Saphan Noi District, Prajuab Kirikhan Province, ThailandThe story behind the founding of The Bang Saphan Noi Theater, the first ever movie theater to grace the soggy fields of the district it's named for, is a textbook case study of a 20th century Sino-Thai entrepreneurship in rural Thailand.
Starting in the late 19th century and going forward, Chinese migration to Thailand was encouraged by successive reigns of Thailand's ruling Chakri Dynasty. In Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-66492836231994487282017-11-22T11:09:00.001-05:002017-11-22T20:30:18.303-05:00The Sirimitr Rama - Ban Grud, Bang Saphan District, Prajuab Kirikhan Province, ThailandIt took an extra three hours longer than normal to get to Ban Grud from Bangkok thanks to the undercarriage of my train catching firing 20 minutes out of the station. Almost 10 hours worth of travel to spend a whopping 6 minutes documenting the local picture house. Sad but true. Maybe I'm losing some my enthusiasm for this work after all these years?
Probably not.
The reality is there was no Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-21240125069704068282017-11-07T22:22:00.000-05:002017-11-18T11:17:50.523-05:00The right programming, could equal bright future for Thailand's last movie palaceEndangered species
It's perplexing to think that one of Thailand's most endangered buildings is also one of its most beloved, but such is the dual status held by Bangkok's Scala Theatre - Thailand's last operating movie palace.
The Scala Theatre; little altered since its grand opening in 1969.
Scala's trademark vaulted ceiling and 5-tiered glass orb chandelier.
Since its Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-39184415405409151842017-10-19T22:56:00.000-04:002017-10-19T22:56:43.164-04:00A few more of Myanmar's cinema treasures back in businessBefore you write off the stand-alone movie theater in Southeast Asia as a dying form from last century, take a look at Myanmar.
Mingala Cinemas, the largest cinema exhibitor and distributor in the country, has been on a tear of late acquiring and refurbishing defunct old movie theaters nationwide. Over the past 3 years they have expanded their holdings beyond their traditional mainstays of Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437949635699944993.post-20355522867374381602017-10-05T23:37:00.002-04:002017-10-05T23:40:20.240-04:00The Sein Cinema - Paung, Mon State, MyanmarThe theater hunt occasionally leads me to a town that pleases the senses beyond the movie theater that brought me there in the first place. Count Paung as one of those towns. While Paung's humble little movie theater - The Sein Cinema - also contributes to the town's overall charm, it's some greater combination of scale and aesthetics that otherwise makes this place and others like it so Philip Jablonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290952622576852985noreply@blogger.com1