Langholm Made artist Emma Dove has assembled a programme of short films, spanning 1945 to the present day, which observe and celebrate the roles played by women across the weaving and textile industries in the UK and worldwide - from mill workers to garment makers, ‘waulkers’ to home menders, hand weavers and textile recyclers.
‘infinite hands’ brings together films from the British Film Institute’s ‘Textiles on Film’ collection, paired with contemporary films from the UK, Myanmar and India. Together they explore themes of labour, industry and mechanisation, camaraderie and teamwork, shifting attitudes, gendered roles and worker’s rights, material culture, fast fashion, recycling, industrial decline and overseas labour.
Further information about the film programme available here
↓ Click the tabs on the right to read a description of each individual film below ↓
Although the 'infinite hands' film programme is no longer available, this film can also be watched here
Every year on a full moon night in November, thirty women gather at Shwe Phone Pwint Pagoda in the Pazundaung district of Myanmar's former capital Yangon to take part in a competition known as Matho Thingan. There are many entrants but only ten looms. The task is to weave the finest robes for the temple's Buddha images. All robes must be finished by dawn otherwise they are considered 'stale'. Cheered on by large crowds and an orchestra of pulsating drums and high-pitched oboes, the teams of dedicated female competitors work the handlooms back and forth - weaving a total length of 165m of robes - in a feat that celebrates Buddha's own foster mother, Gautami, who is said to have woven her son a robe in a single day.
Please note: English subtitles must be toggled on manually for this film.
Director Bio
Yangon-born Thu Thu Shein was a video editor at Myanmar Forever June Co. before discovering her passion for documentary at the first Yangon Film School workshop where she was cinematographer on A Day with Aye Nan Lin (dir: Eh Mwee). “I wanted to show the weavers’ excitement, exhaustion and joy”, she says of her own directorial debut, A Million Threads, which she also edited during the 2006 YFS workshop. Thu Thu is a graduate of Yangon University of Culture’s cinema course and a regular cinematographer on YFS productions. She studied an MA in cinematography at the Czech Academy of Performing Arts FAMU in Prague.
- Year2006
- Runtime15 minutes
- LanguageBurmese
- CountryMyanmar
- RatingPG
- NoteThemes: competition, craft, skills, speed, hand weaving, team work, labour, physicality, repetition
- DirectorThu Thu Shein
- ProducerYangon Film School
- CinematographerPe Maung Same and Thu Thu Shein
- EditorThu Thu Shein
- Sound DesignLay Thida
Langholm Made artist Emma Dove has assembled a programme of short films, spanning 1945 to the present day, which observe and celebrate the roles played by women across the weaving and textile industries in the UK and worldwide - from mill workers to garment makers, ‘waulkers’ to home menders, hand weavers and textile recyclers.
‘infinite hands’ brings together films from the British Film Institute’s ‘Textiles on Film’ collection, paired with contemporary films from the UK, Myanmar and India. Together they explore themes of labour, industry and mechanisation, camaraderie and teamwork, shifting attitudes, gendered roles and worker’s rights, material culture, fast fashion, recycling, industrial decline and overseas labour.
Further information about the film programme available here
↓ Click the tabs on the right to read a description of each individual film below ↓
Although the 'infinite hands' film programme is no longer available, this film can also be watched here
Every year on a full moon night in November, thirty women gather at Shwe Phone Pwint Pagoda in the Pazundaung district of Myanmar's former capital Yangon to take part in a competition known as Matho Thingan. There are many entrants but only ten looms. The task is to weave the finest robes for the temple's Buddha images. All robes must be finished by dawn otherwise they are considered 'stale'. Cheered on by large crowds and an orchestra of pulsating drums and high-pitched oboes, the teams of dedicated female competitors work the handlooms back and forth - weaving a total length of 165m of robes - in a feat that celebrates Buddha's own foster mother, Gautami, who is said to have woven her son a robe in a single day.
Please note: English subtitles must be toggled on manually for this film.
Director Bio
Yangon-born Thu Thu Shein was a video editor at Myanmar Forever June Co. before discovering her passion for documentary at the first Yangon Film School workshop where she was cinematographer on A Day with Aye Nan Lin (dir: Eh Mwee). “I wanted to show the weavers’ excitement, exhaustion and joy”, she says of her own directorial debut, A Million Threads, which she also edited during the 2006 YFS workshop. Thu Thu is a graduate of Yangon University of Culture’s cinema course and a regular cinematographer on YFS productions. She studied an MA in cinematography at the Czech Academy of Performing Arts FAMU in Prague.
- Year2006
- Runtime15 minutes
- LanguageBurmese
- CountryMyanmar
- RatingPG
- NoteThemes: competition, craft, skills, speed, hand weaving, team work, labour, physicality, repetition
- DirectorThu Thu Shein
- ProducerYangon Film School
- CinematographerPe Maung Same and Thu Thu Shein
- EditorThu Thu Shein
- Sound DesignLay Thida