The Sein Aung Win Cinema - Kyaukme, Shan State, Myanmar

If one were to take inventory of the many colorful towns in Myanmar and rank them in order of their physical character, Kyaukme would sit very near the top. This large town is one of those uncommon places that is worth visiting for no other reason than the place itself. All of its varied parts intermingle like clockwork, with no one aspect any more or less outstanding than the next. 

Despite the overall lack of any specific site or destination, everything in Kyaukme compliments everything else. There is no single anomaly of siting or design that throws off the balance. Even the newer buildings seem to have been built in consideration of those that were erected a century before. Suburban sprawl, chief denigrator of all urbanism, does not exist.

A street lined with shop-houses just a few blocks from the train station.

At the center of Kyaukme is the old market, a low slung wooden structure taking up an entire square block. From this commercial core the town pushes out into a high density grid. The buildings, while diverse in age and style, have a uniformity of scale that runs through the whole town. Everything seems accessible. Everything very human. The scale of its streets in relation to the size of its buildings; its steady commercial buzz and busy street-life, sans the gridlock and pollution induced by cars. 

Kyaukme owes at least part of its past prosperity to being on the train line, the primary economic lifeline in centuries passed. But where most Southeast Asian towns that were built up along a train line have outgrown their original confines, in Kyaukme they seem to have changed very little. Add to this thriving human scale environment the flourishes of antique architecture in good condition and you have a living piece of history. A very special place, to say the least.

The U San Baw Building, one of several ornate old department stores in the center of town

A nice old building near the train station.

As in much of Myanmar, the well preserved structures of Kyaukme were not necessarily preserved out of intention. Years of economic isolation has meant that the financing needed to replace old buildings with new was often absent. 

Kyaukme, like a number of other cities in Myanmar's ethnic states, has the added obstacle of war in the surrounding rural areas to further stifle investment, freezing the townscape in an unintentional time warp.  

While war and disinvestment make for an ugly combination, the effect of the two on Kyaukme's physicality - aesthetic, functional, what have you - has been a boon, ensuring a well preserved stock of buildings and the accompanying culture that makes use of them.

Old department store

One of Kyaukme's many understated structures

 

Townscapes

View from the steps of the temple on the hill.

What would a well preserved Southeast Asian town be without a cinema to document? The silly but true answer is it wouldn't be one that you'd hear about on this blog. We like to stick to our proverbial guns here at The Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project. Fortunately, Kyaukme still has The Sein Aung Win Cinema, the existence of which gives me a bit of licence to boast about the town in general.

Elevated view of The Sein Aung Win Cinema in downtown Kyaukme.

With a synoptic description of the larger town in mind, it should come as no surprise that Kyaukme's lone theater is too a bit of honey for the eyes. But that's true of most of the theaters in Myanmar. The unfortunate thing is that said theater, The Sein Aung Win Cinema, is no longer a contributing to Kyaukme's steady din of vitality, having been mothballed since 2012.  

Multicolored louvre windows highlight the central tower of The Sein Aung Win. A golden star with a red outline sits at the top.

Sein Aung Win means "Victorious Diamond"

Perforated, decorative blocks comprise the central strips in the theater's cornice. 

Ticket windows

A poster case behind the concession stand decorated to resemble a diamond.

The Sein Aung Win Cinema was built in 1957, at the height of Myanamr's movie theater construction boom, which dated roughly from 1947 to 1962. Politically, the period corresponds to the brief window between independence from British rule and the ascension of General Ne Win's military dictatorship. That short democratic interlude saw an explosion in the arts in Myanmar, then Burma, as post-World War 2 rebuilding kick-started the economy.  

In the realm of design, The Sein Aung Win is a bit of a puzzle. Not the typical Art Deco or Art Modern that characterized a large portion of Burmese cinema architecture of the era. While I'm no architecture expert, I'm also no rookie, but this has got me scratching me head. I can only conclude that this is some sort of composite.  

Pilasters and weeds

The date of completion, 1957, is molded onto the side cornice, now obscured from view by a newer structure. The only way I was able to find it was thanks to a tenant in the neighboring building who led me up to a second floor balcony so I could take this picture.

From its heyday in the late 1950's to its closure 4 years ago, The Sein Aung Win Cinema saw a gradual loss of viewership until running it proved too much for 75 year old U Kyaw Aung, owner of the theater. The Kyaukme native picked up the reins from his father, who opened it 59 years ago. 

When asked what he thought the future of the theater would be, U Kyaw Aung was not very hopeful, expressing doubt that it could ever be made operational again.

"I'm too old, anyway," he said. "There needs to be a younger generation to do the work." 

For the time being The Sein Aung Win stands in a lull. Mothballed, presumably, until some investor makes a move on it. Hopefully that move will be in line with Kyaukme's immaculately well preserved character. A rare example of a Southeast Asian town that has managed to avoid, whether intentionally or not, the trappings of progress and the piecemeal destruction of history which it so often brings. 

The Sein Myit Tar Cinema - Hsipaw, Shan State, Myanmar

The next major town to the west of Lashio in upper Shan State is Hsipaw (pronounced See-Paw). This little hamlet has gained some renown over the past decade or so among travelers for its vintage atmosphere and sedate pace. A freeze frame of the old upland Southeast Asia once romanticized in Western literature and film. Comparisons to Luang Prabang, Laos, minus the tourist hordes have been tossed around with some accuracy, though that same reputation has led to a steadily increasing stream of them. Visitors hoping to experience a pristine Shan princedom devoid of other map-toting, rubber-necking travelers will be let down.

That said, Hsipaw's old school authenticity is still present. Like most small towns in Myanmar, regardless of what part of the country, a human scale, pedestrian oriented intimacy prevails. Those who come from lands where the car has gained primacy as a way of life will find their relative absence in Hsipaw refreshing.

Another relative absence, though maybe only noticeable to that slim subset of architecture enthusiast with an affection for them, is the movie theater. The last one in town - The Sein Myit Tar Cinema - had been turned into the local branch of Myanmar Apex Bank in the past year or so, replacing the leisurely pursuit of movie-going with the serious business of finance.

For history's sake, at least, the Art Deco exterior of The Sein Myit Tar has been kept intact, a visual reminder of the cinematic pleasures once shared within. But only for those old enough to know it.

Now you know it, too.

A quintessential Myanmar Art Deco movie theater, whose name I forgot to record.

The Thein Htaik Cinema - Lashio, Shan State, Myanmar

Rounding out the trio of active stand-alone movie theaters in Lashio is one that differs markedly from the majority of Myanmar's mid-century cinema stock. Go figure! It's not actually a mid-century movie theater at all, nor was it designed in either of the hallmark Art Deco or International Style which, in Myanmar, are so indicative of the form.

The Thein Htaik Cinema was erected in the 21st century, probably the first single screen stand-alone to arise in the country since the 2000's began. True to the era, it bears none of the aesthetic charms that most older Myanmar theaters come standard with, and all the drawbacks of contemporary stock architecture, with one particularly biting shortcoming - Lashio's unfortunately easy access to cheap Chinese building materials.   

The Thein Htaik Cinema looks like it was ripped straight off of a Chinese mass construction site, the prevailing aesthetic logic of which is whatever the building, slap some glazed tile, vinyl panels and/or imitation varnished stone onto the facade and call it a castle. It's the latter material that mars the exterior of The Thein Htaik, a decor that announces the accumulation of wealth sans any accompanying notions of good taste, not unlike much of its freshly constructed ilk throughout China. Add some vertical strips of tinted glass, and voila - we've managed to achieve an opaque gangland sort of look. 

While on the subject, multiple sources claimed The Thein Htaik Cinema, as well as a nearby hotel, belong to a certain, shall we say, "Golden Triangle" business man. As part of said business man's amnesty deal with the Burmese military government back in the 1980's, he was given concessions to operate some of the local movie theaters. The 2003 grand opening of The Thain Htaik Cinema was an outcome of that. 

A stand-alone theater for its times - The Thein Htaik Cinema

Despite aesthetic lampooning, The Thein Htaik is an overall welcomed addition to downtown Lashio. The movie watching experience therein is copacetic, taking place inside a comfortable and spacious auditorium, equipped with all the latest in digital sound and projection technology. Though it may fall short in the looks department, the bi-level lobby is reminiscent of the older variety of stand-alone movie theater in Southeast Asia, designed with ample space for movie goers to lounge around and socialize before the start of a film. And in typical tropical architecture fashion, both levels are open air around the perimeter, allowing the bustle and spontaneity of the city street to blend with the fantasy world of the cinema. Simply stated, it makes the outside feel inside.

At night, The Thein Htaik punctuates the urban landscape of downtown Lashio like few other buildings do - a typical attribute of stand-alone movie theaters, whatever their aesthetic shortcomings.

But above all, it's the theater's superb interplay with the city that is its greatest strength. A lively city center is a healthy city center, where numerous opportunities to socialize and do business exist for one and all. Assuming that movie going remains a popular enough activity to attract large crowds, movie theaters like The Thein Htaik - by their very nature - help facilitate such opportunities like few other types of businesses can. Located in Lashio's commercial core, just around the corner from the much older Aung Thiri Cinema, The Thein Htaik adds the excitement of mass entertainment to a vibrant downtown atmosphere. After sundown, with it's neon lights aglow and colorful movie advertisements hanging over the street, there is no more punctuating sight in town than The Thein Htaik Cinema, confirming the adage coined by renowned American theater architect S. Charles Lee that with a good movie theater, "the show starts on the sidewalk."

Signage

The Aung Thiri Cinema - Lashio, Shan State, Myanmar

Myanmar's movie theater business has been acting a bit schizophrenic of late. On the one hand, at an estimated 49 active theaters nationwide, the country has the fewest number of movie theaters since World War Two, when its theaters were often on the receiving end of aerial bombings. Nationwide, dozens of 3rd tier and even a handful of 2nd tier cities have lost their last operating theater over the course of the past 5 years. In all of Irrawaddy Region, for example, a paltry two cinemas serve a Region-wide population of over 6 million, hardly an apt ratio for a country  poised to see high levels of economic growth.

But there's an atypical corollary to the dwindling number of theaters. As a sizable portion of older theaters across Myanmar go out of business, an opposing trend towards renovation and technical upgrades is being seen in select cases (including one of the two remaining theaters in the aforementioned Irrawaddy Region). Economic confidence, sparked by the relaxing of some trade embargoes in the wake of political reforms has, it would seem, trickled down to the film industry. As the Ministry of Information privatizes its stock of old theaters, some of them have been acquired by cinema-minded entrepreneurs.

Though still by far the exception, this slowly expanding phenomenon represents a bright spot for preservationists, while offering a glimmer of hope that a human-focused, anti-sprawl form of development will find some adherents in Myanmar. Aside from Yangon and Mandalay, the numbers one and two largest cities, Myanmar's many towns and cities tend to be compact and centralized, with work place and residence often in the same location. This pre-suburban sprawl living arrangement is the reason why so many of Myanmar's old theaters have managed to survive in the first place.

To put that in context, cities across the developed world are pursuing policies that aim to curb sprawl and revive historic town cores. In that sense, Myanmar's long stagnation has left it in an advantageous position if it takes strides to limit private car ownership, enhance public transit and preserve its historic urban cores. Stand-alone movie theaters - the cultural anchors of modern urbanity - can play a major role in keeping the downtown core vibrant.

That said, Lashio in upper Shan State has the distinction of being home to two recently renovated stand-alone movie theaters. The first of the two was highlighted here a few months ago. The second and more recent upgrade is the Aung Thiri Cinema.

The commercial core of Lashio is built on the side of a hill, giving the town a naturally textured siting. Its topographical charm is further complemented by a medley of buildings from different eras, some made of wood, some brick and plaster, some concrete. Space in front of the buildings, from the sidewalks and to the edge of streets are the preserve of hawkers, peddling wares from fresh fruit to cheap electronics. Pedestrians are more or less confined to the streets themselves, reflecting what is at best an early motorized society. In other words, the strict delineation of space has yet to be hashed out.        

At the center of this city organism, hidden from plain sight behind a wall of concrete retail stalls, is the Aung Thiri Cinema. To reach the theater, one must go through a passage way between the little stalls which opens onto a plaza surrounding the theater. 

The architecture of the Aung Thiri is simple. The main structure is brick and concrete, though some interior parts are made of wood. Semi-circle arches sit atop concrete pilasters stacked vertically in the lengthwise procession of the facade. A very common orientation for Myanmar movie theaters. Logical in some ways, as it makes entering and exiting less of a bottle neck. 

There is no real lobby area to speak of, just a row of benches within a veranda. Folding wooden doors lead directly into the 400 seat auditorium.

New dimensional signage on the roof advertises the Aung Thiri Cinema and its recently installed 3D projection system

Poster examination in the theater's veranda 

Concessionaires 

Evidence that the charms of the old can live harmoniously with the efficiency and sophistication of the new: the Aung Thiri's original wrought iron ticket window is looking as good as ever, while the ticketing system has been upgraded to a computer system.  

Upgraded seating, sound proofing and new lighting have been installed, ushering the Aung Thiri into the contemporary age. 

A theater from 1960's Burma looking much like a contemporary multiplex anywhere in the world.

Revitalization of the Aung Thiri Cinema comes at the behest of Yangon-based Mingalar Cinemas, Myanmar's largest theater chain and a proactive player in the preservation of old stand-alones. In 2014, Mingalar partnered with local operators to bring new life the Aung Thiri, which had been dormant since 2003.

Seating was modernized, replacing the theater's original teak wood bench seats with the contemporary cushioned and folding kind. An air-conditioning system was installed for the first time. A brand new screen. But above all else, a digital projector replaced the antiquated if still functional carbon-arc projectors, allowing for the latest in international productions to be screened in top notch quality.

For Lashio, a town once at the far end of accessibility in a country that had long been blocked from the goings-on of the wider world, movie-going is officially in the 21st century. Accompanied, no less, by a treasured piece of the town's social history. 

The Aung Thiri at night.

Photography and research at the Aung Thiri Cinema was made possible by the man in the photo below, Mr. Sai Ni Yon, whose impeccable English and generous nature made an often challenging task a breeze. Not only was I granted full access to the Aung Thiri, but he very kindly imparted the historic details of this recently resuscitated cinema treasure. 

The Thida Aye Cinema - Lashio, Shan State, Myanmar

Undulating Lashio, the economic capital of northern Shan State, is home to three stand-alone movie theaters. Each of the three is operating. Each one unique. Each adding a distinct flair to the city streets. Three welcomed sights in a bustling, modestly dense town in the Shan hills. 

Two of the three theaters in Lashio, including the highlighted Thida Aye Cinema, have been fully modernized in the last few years, moves which contrast sharply with mainstream developments in big screen movie exhibition. The third theater in town was erected this century, another cinematic anomaly in this day and age. 

While improvements to two and the erection of a third stand-alone movie theater in a single Southeast Asian town is a trend bucking phenomenon, it begs the question of whether this is a self-conscious effort, or simple coincidence. Indeed, the last few years have seen this endangered form find its way into conversations about cultural preservation and the limits of consumerism in rapidly growing Southeast Asia. But as Lashio lacks the institutional forces that help turn such conversations into action, it stands to reason that the investments made to its trio of cinema halls have more to do with local exigencies than any broader capitulation to sustainable urbanism, as romantic as the notion may sound. Either way, as far as Southeast Asia goes, Lashio can consider itself ahead of the curve in the realm of cinema preservation. 

The Thida Aye Cinema in all its horizontal glory

The Thida Aye was built in 1956, probably making it the first structurally concrete theater to be built in Lashio. Don't be fooled by the wood and glass facade, everything else is solid cement.

One Myanmar architect who studied Shan temple architecture in northern Thailand, claims that the architectural style of the Thida Aye belongs to the "contemporary Shan" school. That designation makes it extremely rare among movie theaters in Southeast Asia which, although having often developed their own regional architectural languages, fall almost exclusively within the modernist school of design. A local traditional style is practically unheard of. 

The day time manager selling tickets in front of the theater before the box office opened.

The Thida Aye was fully modernized within the last two years, a clear indication that an appetite for big screen entertainment still persists among Lashioans. Along with the standard upgrades to digital sound and projection, the theater's original wooden bench seats were replaced with contemporary cushioned seats in a bid to make patrons more comfortable. Foam wall panels were likewise installed to sharpen the sound quality - an unfortunate addition from an aesthetic point of view.

Sadly, one of the reasons for the Thida Aye's recent renovations was born of an unfortunate sociopolitical episode, one which has reared its ugly head more than once in Myanmar in recent years. 

In a number of cities across the country, Anti-Muslim riots have broken out intermittently, marking the violent extreme of a Buddhist-nationalist ideology which espouses a Bamar-centric world view in conjunction with a heavy dose of xenophobia. The worst and most well known case occurred in the city of Meiktila in 2013, when a large swath of town was burned to the ground during an outbreak of violence. 

A similar, if slightly less destructive pogrom erupted in Lashio that same year. Among the places set on by the angry mob was the Thida Aye Cinema, which has long been owned by a local Muslim family. The extent of the damage incurred to the cinema is hard to determine. Subsequent repairs, however, turned out to be segue to a full-on makeover for the 60 year old cinema hall, the lone silver lining in an otherwise dark corner of Lashio's long history. 

Tickets for cash

Staff lounging in front of the Thida Aye before the day's first screening.

The Thida Aye auditorium. Black foam wall panels now cover the entire interior, detracting from the aesthetics as it improves the audio quality.

Layered view from the projection window. 

A brand new Sony 3D capable digital project anchors the projection booth at the Thida Aye Cinema

Ticket seller

The Thida Aye Cinema at night.

One can only hope that in its new found splendor, the joys of cinema and the act of movie-going will set the Thida Aye Cinema apart from the perversions of hate.

The Yadana Cinema - Kalaw, Shan State, Myanmar

From bustling Taunggyi we traveled westwards, toward the edge of the Shan Plateau. Our destination was Kalaw, the second of the old British Burma hill station towns, where we held out hope for a colonial-era cinema hall or two.

More of a glorified village than anything else, Kalaw sits cupped within a high mountain valley flanked by pine tree-covered peaks. Like Pyin Oo Lwin, Kalaw was originally established as a British military outpost on the Shan frontier. But as the threat of insurrection on the Shan Plateau waned, Kalaw developed into a hot season retreat for British officialdom, as well as a market town along the Taunggyi train line. The surrounding hills, populated by an ethno-linguistic spectrum that includes Pa-O, Danu, Shan and Palaung, compliments a town of equally diverse composition. Where ever in Burma the British settled so grew communities from other colonies in the British Empire. Indians, Pakistanis, Bengalis, Nepalis established themselves in various crafts and services along side British-run resource extraction industries. Some of the migrants came to work as laborers in the industries themselves. One lifelong Kalaw resident spoke of nearby villages settled by ethnic Turks recruited by the British in the early 20th century to build the railroad. For all its physical smallness, Kalaw is one of the more culturally assorted places in Myanmar, if not all of Southeast Asia.

An operating cinema, however, it does not have. The remnants of two mark the low density city scape, but none can be said to provide entertainment any longer. The elder of the two cinemas, despite its lengthy stint of cessation and minimal external evidence of its former self, is quite a gem. Its name, Yadana, even translates as such.

January was apparently the wrong time of year to try to photograph the former Yadana Cinema, as direct sunlight never graced its north-facing facade.

Front door to the erstwhile Yadana, now a drinking pub called "Mr. Thumb's."

Kalaw's kaleidoscopic diversity helped spawn the Yadana Cinema, built in 1953 by a Persian Zoroaster businessman. Touted as a much admired denizen of Kalaw, with business acumen to match, the cinema showman left town and country shortly after the military coup and subsequent nationalization of movie theaters in 1962, settling with his family in Canada. During our visit, several of his daughters, now elderly women, made a trip to their birthplace for the first time since leaving. A stopover at the old family cinema hall was made, but we were unfortunately not able to arrange a meeting.

In the plasterwork just below the crown, Yadana can be seen spelled out in Burmese script. Below that, the barely visible romanized spelling of Yadana Cinema Hall has been chipped away.

Wood framed windows

A former cinema lobby-turned-dive bar.

What was once the lobby of the Yadana Cinema is now a drinking pub called Mr. Thumb's - a veritable dive specializing in Premiere League football broadcast via satellite. I spent an hour or so there nursing a Myanmar Beer, trying to pick out details of the cinema's former self. The only obvious leftover is a plaster molding on the wall reading Yadana, above which is the outline of poster box. One can only imagine the colorful movie posters tacked in that space during the 1950's, and the intrigue they must have inspired in the residents of this relatively remote outpost.

Plaster molding on the wall reading "Yadana" below where movie posters were once hung. The sign in the corner of the photo reads "To all partons: please do not rinse your mouth and spit it back in to beer mugs."

Yadana

Side door to auditorium

The front half of the Yadana might bear scant evidence of its former self, but step into the back and the old auditorium will leave you with no doubts. Unused save for an annual New Years party held by Mr. Thumb, the auditorium of the Yadana is a blast from the past. It's not hard to imagine packed houses on chilly Kalaw nights, with captivated crowds, their myriad tongues collectively silenced by a spectacle unlike any other.

A bare auditorium at Yadana Cinema

During my brief furlough in Kalaw, I had the good fortune of meeting a lifelong native who has since taken up the mantle of social activist for the surrounding rural communities. As a young man in the 1950's this local notable was a regular at the Yadana. Jogging his long memory yielded vivid recollections of the film fair of his youth: Elia Kazan's "East of Eden," Cecil B. DeMille's "The 10 Commandments" and the epic "Ben Hur," directed by William Wyler, among others, all came to mind. Such forms nostalgia will be absent from today's generation of Kalaw youth as they reach their twilight years.