Mila Aung-Thwin is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker, producer and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

whose films deal with

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

. He had a multi-disciplinary education in

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, and

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

. In 1998, he met his fellow director/producer Daniel Cross and co-founded with him EyeSteelFilm specializing in making documentaries. He is the vice-president of the company. He is a graduate of

Vanier College Vanier College () is an Quebec English, English-language public College (Quebec), college located in the Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1970 as the second English-language public coll ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 1998. He was an editor of the McGill Daily during his studies.

Career

Aung-Thwin, an award-winning director made the films Chairman George on the stations CTV,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Storyville and

TV 2 (Denmark) TV 2 is a Danish government-owned broadcast and subscription television station, based in Odense, Funen. The station was founded in 1986, and made its first official broadcast in 1988. It makes daily broadcasts of regional and national news, a ...

. as a co-director to Daniel Cross. Another co-direction with Cross was Too Colourful for the League, Gemini-nominated TV documentary examining the struggle of blacks in

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

from the 1930s to the present day telling the story of black players' courage and determination to play in a white-dominated sport. To his credit as sole director are the documentary

Bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

that follows Montreal's Snell Thouin Project with the extraordinary talents of Willy Tsao's Beijing Modern Dance Company, Music for a Blue Train, a documentary about the beauty and hardship of playing music for commuter traffic focussing on Montreal's subway system, The Métro, that has 59 designated spots for musicians to perform for the public and finally Inuuvunga: I Am Inuk, I Am Alive co-directed with fellow EyeSteelFilm directors Daniel Cross, Brett Gaylor and the students of Inukjuak - Innalik School. He served as cinematographer / producer on S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic, a theatrically released film about a squeegee punk named Roach. He also produced RoachTrip as a follow-up to S.P.I.T.. As director, he won the Golden Sheaf Award at the

Yorkton Film Festival Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...

in 2006 and as producer, he won a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

for

Up the Yangtze ''Up the Yangtze'' is a 2007 documentary film directed by Chinese Canadian, Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang. The film focuses on people affected by the building of the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze river in Hubei, China. The theme of ...

in 2009. In 2008 he was executive producer for

Antoine Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is most common in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada ...

. In 2009 he produced RiP!: A Remix Manifesto (producer) and Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam. In 2022 he was named the winner of the Don Haig Award at the

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...

.Sadaf Ahsan, "Jacquelyn Mills' 'Geographies of Solitude' wins Hot Docs' best Canadian film award".

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a private, not-for-profit c ...

, May 8, 2022.

Filmography

Director

*2001: '' Too Colourful for the League'' *2003: '' Music for a Blue Train'' *2005: '' Chairman George'' *2005: ''

'' *2017: ''Let There Be Light'' (co-director with Van Royko)

Producer

*2001: '' S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic'' (producer) *2005: ''Chairman George'' (co-producer) *2005: ''Bone'' (producer) *2007: ''The Colony'' (executive producer) *2007: ''

'' (producer) () *2008: ''

'' (executive producer) *2009: '' RiP!: A Remix Manifesto'' (producer) *2009: ''Ali Shan'' (executive producer) *2009: '' Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam'' (producer) *2009: '' Last Train Home'' (producer) aka ''Gui tu lie che'' / () *2010: '' The Frog Princes'' (executive producer) *2010: "Gambling Boys" (for ''

The Passionate Eye ''The Passionate Eye'' is a Canadian documentary television series that showcases documentary programming focusing on topics of news, current affairs, politics, and social issues. Airing on CBC Television and CBC News Network, the program airs a m ...

'' on

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

(CBC) - a TV series documentary) (executive producer) *2010: '' Mokhtar'' (producer) (short) *2011: '' Inside Lara Roxx'' (executive producer, producer) *2011: ''Fortunate Son'' (producer) *2012: '' China Heavyweight'' (executive producer) () *2016: '' I Am the Blues'' *2017: ''Let There Be Light'' (co-producer) *2022: ''

Midwives A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their ...

Cinematographer

*2001: ''S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic'' *2005: ''Chairman George'' *2005: ''Bone''

Editor

*2005: ''Chairman George'' *2005: ''Bone'' *2017: ''Let There Be Light'' (co-editor) *2018: '' Anote's Ark'' *2022: ''

Awards

*In 2006, he won the Golden Sheaf Award at Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival for Chairman George alongside Daniel Cross *In 2009, he won

for "Best Documentary" for ''

'' jointly with

Yung Chang Yung Chang is a Chinese Canadian film director and was part of the collective member directors of Canadian film production firm EyeSteelFilm. Chang is a graduate of Concordia University's Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal (BFA 99), the ...

, John Christou and Germaine Wong

References

External links

*
EyeSteelFilm Official web siteMila Aung-Thwin Biography page on NFB site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aung-Thwin, Mila EyeSteelFilm Canadian documentary film directors Film directors from Montreal Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Sundance Film Festival award winners Asian-Canadian filmmakers