Saeed Taji Farouky
A Thousand Fires
Part of
A Thousand Fires

A Thousand Fires

Saeed Taji Farouky

2021
90 min.
France, Switzerland, Netherlands and Palestinian Territories
Burmese
Subtitles: Catalan and Spanish

An emotional picture of a Burmese family that extracts oil by hand to survive. The eldest son rejects following the unjust system that abuses his parents.

Datasheet

Show
Direction
Saeed Taji Farouky
Distribution
DocsBarcelona Distribution
Production
Estelle Robin You, Palmyre Badinier, Joram Willink
Original title
A Thousand Fires
Written and Directed by
Saeed Taji Farouky
Assistant directors
Than Win Han, Joshua Mit Htut
Editor
Catherine Rascon
Color grading
Erik Demeris
Music
Fatima Dunn
Sound design and mix
Maxence Ciekawy, James Bulley
Associate producer
May Odeh
Synopsis

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. Running an unregulated oil field, they produce a barrel every few days. 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. “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.

Upcoming release

About the direction
Saeed Taji Farouky

Saeed Taji Farouky

Director

Saeed Taji Farouky is a Palestinian-British filmmaker who has been producing work around themes of c...

Awards and festivals

Nominated for Best Feature Documentary - Social Impact Media Awards
United States, 2022
Marco Zucchi Award - Semaine de la Critique Locarno Film Festival
Switzerland, 2021
Main Competition - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
The Netherlands, 2021
International Competition - FIPADOC - International Documentary Festival
France, 2022
International Competition - One World – International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival
Czech Republic, 2022
Artists & Auteurs - CPH:DOX
Denmark, 2022
International Competition DOCU/WORLD - Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival
Ukraine, 2022
Panorama - Zagrebdox International Documentary Film Festival
Croatia, 2022
DOK.fest München
Germany, 2022
International Competition - Taiwan International Documentary Festival
Taiwan, 2022
Official Selection - ethnocineca – International Documentary Film Festival
Austria, 2022
Official Selection - Internationales Film Festival Innsbruck
Austria, 2022
Special Screening - DocYard Boston
Estados Unidos, 2022
Saeed Taji Farouky
A Thousand Fires
Watch the trailer
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Reviews

The director is showing us an intimate image, the small details in their relationships and the big decisions that they have to make

— Vladan Petkovic - Cineuropa

An enthralling and immersive portrait of a family, and society, in flux

— Rob Aldam - Backseat Mafia

This is a low-key, quiet film but one of beguilingly vivid sensory impact

— Neil Young - Screen International
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