Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to join you today.

I would like to recognize MEMORY! Cinema, Grace Swe Zin Htaik, the President and members of the jury, the Ambassadors of France, Switzerland, and the EU Delegation to Myanmar, and all the participants in the Myanmar Script Fund competition.

The U.S. Embassy is proud to have supported the MEMORY! Film Festival for the past four years.

This year, as societies around the world faced adversity, we turned to art for inspiration.   This year, perhaps more than any other in the recent past, we came to appreciate the many forms of human connection that art can offer.

Yet, even as we turned to the arts, the pandemic isolated all of us – artists and audiences alike – from one another.

That’s why I am especially proud that the U.S. Embassy’s support of the Myanmar Script Fund allowed a community of independent filmmakers and producers to continue to flourish.

The Myanmar Script Fund has become part of a dynamic film community in Myanmar.

Independent filmmaking is a powerful tool for free expression.

We are seeing more and more Myanmar film artists step into the international film scene – a welcome recognition of the independent film industry in this country.

So, congratulations to the organizers on successfully adapting the Myanmar Script Fund at an unprecedented time.

And finally, congratulations to all the promising Myanmar directors and producers who are the Myanmar Script Fund finalists and winners. We wish you the best and look forward to seeing your films.

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