U Thein Soe dedicated the best years of his life to working as Aung San Suu Kyi’s bodyguard. To please his long-suffering wife and family he has now bowed out of politics − but still can’t help giving up his time to provide local people with valuable legal advice.

The news of the call for submissions to the VDP came in August, when one of the filmmakers was commemorating her father’s death anniversary and her cousin’s birthday. This became the reason for her to invite the other filmmaker to use their shared language (cinema) and contemplate on themes, in the context of Covid-induced lockdown. This documentary contemplates the meaning of life and death blending personal, intimate stories and provides a reflection of contemporary life, family relations and networks in contemporary Vietnam.

“A simple love story” is a documentary film that follows a not so simple love between a tomboy and transvestite man in modern day Myanmar. It traces the tensions that the couple faces and places them at the heart of issues in Burmese society: how can transgender people negotiate their love in society that has yet to embrace their differences?