Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, joined members of the Myanmar diaspora community in New York City on Saturday, for the North American premiere of RAY: The Movie.
Addressing the audience, Kyaw Moe Tun congratulated director The Khit Nay and expressed deep gratitude to the diaspora for their unwavering moral and financial backing of the resistance to the 2021 Myanmar military coup.
The anti-coup film is directed by Myanmar filmmaker The Khit Nay, who wrote and directed three TV series from 2018-20 before joining the 2021 anti-coup protests. He was resettled to Australia with his wife and daughter in 2023 after an arrest warrant was issued for him by the Myanmar regime.
Ray: The Movie is produced by Lebanese-Myanmar couple Robert and Sophia Sarkis—the latter crowned Mrs. Universe Australia Charity Queen 2022—and is based on the book Ma Yai Lae Tan (“Unshakable”) by Khat Zaw.
The plot dramatizes the real-life journey of 36-year-old former Miss Grand International contestant and actress Htar Htet Htet, who abandoned her modeling and entertainment career following the 2021 coup to join armed resistance forces in liberated border regions.
The film also stars prominent exiled actors Min Maw Kunn and Daung (Thura Aung), who were also granted asylum in Australia after the regime issued arrest warrants for their anti-coup activism.
During the event, organizers held a charity auction featuring movie memorabilia and promotional items to raise emergency relief funds for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and resistance operations inside Myanmar.
Since making its world premiere in Sydney, Australia, on June 21, RAY: The Movie has toured across global venues—including Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand (screening in Chiang Mai on October 4)—using cinema to mobilize international solidarity and sustain fundraising for the resistance to military rule in Myanmar.
Stay tuned to DVB English News for more about the event.
