Asian BLs: Burma, Cambodia etc.

BURMA (MYANMAR) BL

Burmese (Myanmar) Government is apparently coming down  with a ton of bricks (arrests, indictments, shutdowns etc.) on BL production houses so some of the below mentioned dramas are not available anymore.

These brave creators should be congratulated and supported for standing up for a discriminating community in spite of interdictions.

CAMBODIAN (KHMER) BL

Information about Cambodian bls are difficult to find and after scouring the web for an hour all I could come up with is SastraFilm, a streaming platform which also produces movies amongst which a number of BL and GL series you can watch in their app. Their youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@SastraPlus/featured gives you a little taste of these web series!

Who Am I? (Khmer: ខ្ញុំជាអ្នកណា?, Khnhŭm Chéa Neăk Na?; 2009.) is the debut Cambodian lesbian-themed tragic romance film by writer and director Khmer novelist, Phoan Phoung Bopha. The plot deals with a taboo lesbian love story about a Cambodian-American woman infatuated with a famous Cambodian actress. One of the themes is a positive view regarding homosexuality. 

MYANMAR BL 2

Bus Stop (2023. short film, 29min)

The film tells the story Htoo Weya Bo (Vita Min), who falls in love at first sight with a sex worker, Okkar Min Khant (Kaung Zan Hein) when he sees his pictures on social medias. One night, Bo hires Khant, not for pleasure but to ask him to act like they are lovers that have known each other for so long. Bo's innocence inspires Khant to think better of himself.

Bus Stop is a metaphor for sex workers.

Funny how this short movie reminds me of some early vietnamese BLs with characters out of the ordinary. The burmese bls are still few and far between so I guess they are not using them  for fluffy content yet! This is by the same producers as The Star (I posted about earlier). It is a low budget production which shows but the story is compelling and the actors are hot.  Very well spent 30min!

Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ71egsqzi0

Film
Youtube (official but the sound is missing!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiI3OAa1Q_M
Bilibili (low quality but the sound is there!) https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/2043061882 

MYANMAR BL4

1 4 9 9 (2020. short film, 6min)

It still amazes me how some filmmakers manage to tell more in 7 minutes than others in 70!

The film tells the story of two best friends from high school. When one tries to have their relationship evolve, the other remains speechless.

I have no idea what the title means. I could not find the explanation. If anybody does, please tell.

This is a cute short movie about first love, risks taken and hopeful future. The ending is open for interpretation since the producers promised "To Be Continued" but never did!

Watch it on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajDoG06EuOs 

MYANMAR BL 7

AR-T (2020. MV series 3x10min)

AR-T is a Myanmar singer, songwriter, record producer. He is popularly known for his creativity, sense of humor, and warm personality, which has him as a highly sought after artist to collaborate with.

Through three songs, AR-T tells the love story of three people: a wife, a husband and his lover. The songs are really nice and the story is full of angst and chemistry...

Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG4czVneGZe9NTdQhh1_uTWhkxW7ujvTY 

CAMBODIAN BL1

Links to some other non MDL(Vietnam, Myanmar) BLs can be found on my profile page if interested!

The Memories (2023. 4 x 20-45min)

Phano surprises his boyfriend on a date with a girl and breaks up with him. But that is only the first in the string of bad news that day. Sad and angry he goes to a local café where he is comforted by Prince, the barista. They become friends but can they be more?

The Memories finished airing mid December 2023 so it is very recent. Cambodian bls are rare and this one is supported by the Ministry of Culture.

It deals primarily with homophobia in the society: at one point Phano, after the latest attack, breaks down crying: "I want to be like others!".  It is heartbreaking!

The actors are good. The cinematography is excellent for a web series: very artistic with shaky camera and odd angles. The sound is mostly bad. The subs are written in bad english but comprehensible. They do go overboard a bit: subbing even the silent scenes! The cartoon stills between the parts are the cutest ever!

"We do not know what painful situations people around us have been through. If we are kind to them, it is like sharing good things so when we don't see each other again, there are still good memories remaining."

Here's the playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNQHN3RXAqQb45zprUqBHe949hkHvRAeZ

Enjoy! 

MYANMAR BL 8

Bagan Beginning (2023. 8x28min)

Mani and Hlyan have been best friends since childhood. Now adults they are under pressure from their families to marry and take over the family business. Mani is a tour guide and Sam, an exclusive client, an American of burmese origine, will  make him think harder about what he really wants in life.

This is another little gem from the burmese nascient bl industry. It is a slow burn, beautifully filmed slice of life showing off Bagan. The last two episodes suddenly see a change of pace turning it into a makjangy sort of revenge story (lots of very, very fake looking blood!) only to change back into the original genre 10min before the end. The writing for the romance part is excellent, showing slowly how the two men come to realize their own feelings. There is also a beautiful trans character cheering them along! She is brilliant!
Attention: there are a lot of pesky PPLs but they are rather creative!

Here are a couple articles by BL Bliss about this drama. Interesting reads!
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/01/26/the-beauty-and-the-brawn-in-bagan-the-beginning/
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/01/24/the-breath-behind-the-beauty-of-bagan-the-beginning/

Bagan is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas survive.(wikipedia)

Myanmar Government shut the producers Trust Entertainment down so their every social media account, including youtube, has been deleted. But a kind soul managed to  save this here but eps 5 & 6 are missing.

MYANMAR BL 10

Healing Thingyan (4x12min= 3+1special ep., 2024)

During Thingyan (Burmese New Year Water festival in mid-April), Nway Thit tries to confess to Ngu Wah but is every time interrupted by his best friend A Ta, who actually has a crush on him. When he discovers that, Nway Thit is so confused, he refuses to participate in the following year's festivities.

This short web drama is another little gem from Myanmar. The actors (Rian & Pyi Nyein Han) are cute and have good chemistry, the romance is cute,the girl is cute, the music is nice, this is just a cute bit of fluff. Well produced and filmed, this is a worthy addition to the growing list of burmese BLs. Like the others, it is rather chaste so no kissing just intense looks and a cuddle in the final episode 4, which serves as an epilogue and BTS short.

The videos have been hidden (deleted?) by the producers Sky Productions.

For those who speak French, the drama had been saved by a fansubber group here:
http://petitsblentreamis.eklablog.com/healing-thingyan-a215580397 

CAMBODIAN BL 3

Boy Toy (2022. 13x35min)

Sam (K Sinh) is a boytoy, a high class male prostitute. One evening, while running away from a man with a gun, he is helped by Deth (Min), a poor student working as a masseur. Sam is impressed by Deth's skills and falls for him, pursuing him aggressively in order to make him date Sam. In spite of Deth constantly refusing his advances, Sam is relentless and ends up breaking down all Deth's defences. But the moment they start dreaming about a happily ever after, Sam's two major clients refuse to let him go and all hell breaks loose.

The producers, Sastra Films SastraPlus, seem to be a major company in Cambodia making BL (& GL) content. Until recently those were only released in their app: but they have started releasing them internationally on youtube though the first episodes of this one are heavily cut (from 40min to 25min).

Boy Toy has an interesting story but the execution low budget and is a bit lacking: the first few episodes are a toil to get through because they are badly edited and parts of episodes are obviously missing. The music seems to switch from overly comic to overly dramatic in a heartbeat. Another quirkiness is that they often talk aloud to themselves when they are all alone: I guess it is instead of a voiceover.

But the concept of boytoys and male prostitution in general is a worthy topic.

Trailer (no subs):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMBBn2N-lKI

Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkNRZAXnyf7hMWsDYtNdsWzAZOuySRL9U