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In the Magway region of Myanmar, a country home to one of the oldest petroleum industries in the world, live husband and wife Thein Shwe and Htwe Tin. They wish above all else to see their youngest son succeed, to break the cycle of poverty.
A kettle boils. Mud slicked hands work sputtering machines. The ambient sound of a football match hums from a nearby television. Running an unregulated oil field, they produce a barrel every few days. “These days passed quickly”, Htwe says. From Palestinian-British filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky, A Thousand Fires is a portrait of a family in flux, and a story of intergenerational conflict and compromise.
It is a film of transient moments; of hopes and aspirations; of faith in the forces of karma and luck; of a place, a community, and the rhythms of a day to day; of lingering memories and a turbulent past; and of life persisting, regardless. A life hard fought for, a stillness earned. The days pass quickly.
