“They Called Me Baby”
My grandmother, Myint Myint Khin (nicknamed Baby), was a famous actress in the 1950s and 60s and a five-time Myanmar Academy Awards winner. Growing up, I often heard about the life of cinema actors, the movie industry, anecdotes from behind the scenes and how she became a celebrity over time. It was a difficult time, as the country was going through numerous political upheavals, especially when the democratically elected civilian government of U Nu was overthrown by a coup d’etat led by General Ne Win in 1962.
However, the cinema industry seems to have thrived unabated for some time. One day, I chanced upon a photo album in her house. It was packed with rare movies stills, publicity
material and cinema memorabilia. I realized the importance of documenting her archive in order to share it with a wider public, so that her personal collection could become a reference to the times – well beyond its value as a family collection, and a marker of sartorial trends, print culture and popular tastes.
What these photos also reveal are her teenage years, and her evolution into an icon, a dashing young lady. These have been placed beside images from her daily life today. Though times have changed phenomenally over the last 6 decades, her spirit and her composure in the present remains that of her former self – marked by determination and a flair for acknowledging moments of her past life without any airs.
From the series They Called Me Baby Yangon, 2014 Digital
All archival photographs courtesy the Myint Myint Khin Collection
![7-2](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/7-2-300x210.jpg)
Photo session at home when the Miss Burma beauty pageant fashion was popular. Mid 1950s
![1-3](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1-3-1-300x198.jpg)
ID card of St. John Red Cross Society belonging to Myint Myint Khin.
![6-2](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/6-2-225x300.jpg)
Scene from the movie Aww Main Ma! (1951)
![11](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/11-218x300.jpg)
Movie poster of Phyay Hlawt Kway (1958)
![9-2](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/9-2-200x300.jpg)
Calendar art and commercial for Burma States cigarettes. 1959
![13](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/13-300x200.jpg)
Myint Myint Khin cleaning her wedding photo. The Academy Awards have pride of place in the living room.
![3](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/3-239x300.jpg)
Scene from movie Phyay Hlawt Kway (1958) with actor Kyaw Swe.
![10-2](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/10-2-247x300.jpg)
Scene from movie Chit Nyi Ma (1957) with actor Kyaw Phay.
![17](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/17-1-300x200.jpg)
Talking to her granddaughter about the film industry.
![16](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/16-1-300x300.jpg)
Myint Myint Khin with her husband (U Khin Maung Nyunt) and children (Tin Aye Myint, Khin Aye Myint, Aye Aye Myint, Swe Aye Myint) in their garden. Late 1960s/early 70s
![8](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/8-210x300.jpg)
Studio shoot with her first two academy awards won from Chit Nyi Ma (1957) and Phyay Hlawt Kway (1958).
![18](http://enterpix.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/18-1-300x200.jpg)
Myint Myint Khin says a morning prayer with incense sticks.