| Sittwe | |
| Native Name: | |
| Director: | Jeanne Marie Hallacy |
| Producer: | U Myo Win |
| Cinematography: | Sai Kyaw Khaing |
| Editing: | Elizabeth Finlayson |
| Studio: | Smile Education and Development Foundation |
| Runtime: | 19 minutes |
| Country: |
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Sittwe is a 2017 internationally co-produced short documentary film about two teenagers, a Muslim Rohingya girl and a Buddhist boy, in Rakhine State, Myanmar who were separated by conflict in the state.[2] Directed by American filmmaker Jeanne Marie Hallacy,[3] it was banned by Myanmar government censors from holding its premiere at the 5th Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival (HRHDIFF) in Yangon.[4] Despite the ban, some short trailers of the film were screened in Myanmar. The directors of the film aimed to give a voice to the ordinary people involved in the Rakhine conflict and highlight the impact of a lack of education on racism and prejudiced attitudes.[5]
Its first screening was instead held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok on 5 July 2017.[4] To give ordinary Americans a better understanding of the human situation in northern Rakhine, the film was screened and promoted amongst American universities, congressional organisations.[5] The film was later screened at the Freedom Film Festival 2017 in Malaysia in early September, where it won the award for Best Southeast Asia Short Documentary.[6] In late 2017 the Myanmar-based Smile Education and Development Foundation sponsored a screening tour of the film in more than twelve major U.S. cities, including New York, Baltimore, Berkeley, and Los Angeles.[7] The tour featured director Hallacy and human rights activist and Smile Foundation founder Myo Win.[8]