Myanmar Academy Award Ceremony held for 2012 Movies
The Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards are presented annually to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Burmese Film Industry of Myanmar.[1] The awards ceremony has been held annually since 1952.[2] Each winner is presented with a golden statue and in recent years also a cash prize.[2][3][4]
History
The awards were first introduced in 1952, and the ceremony has been held annually since 1952 (apart from 1963, 1986, 1987, and 1988). In the first awards ceremony, only three kinds of awards (Best Film, Best Actor and Best Actress) were presented. In the beginning, second and third place prizes for Best Film category were also given. Over time the awards ceremony has expanded significantly; in 1954, a Best Director award was introduced with the second and third place prizes for Best Film being removed in 1955. In 1955, first Special Award for Best Child Artist was awarded. In 1956 a Best Cinematography award was created, and in 1962, Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards were also introduced. In 1990, the number of awards reached 10 with the addition of Best Screenplay, Best Music and Best Sound awards. The awards have topped out at 11 with the addition of a Best Editing award. In 2017, Myanmar Academy Awards introduced the Lifetime Achievement Award category.
Adding to the unpredictability of the awards ceremony are prizes given to Special Awards some years and the duplication of awards when the judging panel cannot decide who should win. And of course, sometimes awards are simply not awarded if it is decided that no person is worthy.
The first film to win the Best Picture award was Chit Thet Wai (Dear Thet Wai) in 1952. The best director award was first given to U Thukha for his Aww Main Ma (Oh, women!), a comic drama. Actor Kyaw Win won the first best actor award in Marlaryi with Kyi Kyi Htay winning Best Actress for her performance in Chit Thet Wai (Dear Thet Wai).
The significance of the awards has fluctuated along with the health of Burmese cinema. The number of eligible film entries each year has declined dramatically since the 1980s. Due to heightened competition from foreign films and other entertainment media as well as escalating costs of production, the number of feature-length Burmese films has gone from nearly 100 films per year in the 1970s to barely more than ten today. The number of films screened were 95 in 1978, 75 in 1983, 65 in 1985.[7] In 2008, only 12 were screened.[4] As the Burmese film industry struggles to produce films each year, films that do get produced are mostly with established directors, actors and actresses. Most Burmese films today are dominated by comedies.[4]
The result is that the same coterie of players win the award year after year from a much shallower pool. It used to be that only few actors and actresses could claim as "academy award winner" or even fewer still as "repeat academy award winner". Venerable actors of old like Win Oo and Kawleikgyin Ne Win won just two each in their lifetime. Director Thukha and actress Myint Myint Khin who won six and five respectively were the exceptions, not the rule.[citation needed]
