FRUIT GATHERING

In contemporary Myanmar, two young women labor at a textile factory in industrial Yangon, enduring exhausting work, social repression and economic uncertainty. The relentless rhythms of everyday life leave little room for human connection, yet both continue to quietly dream of intimacy, freedom and escape. When they begin to grow closer, long-suppressed emotions gradually surface, opening the possibility of a life beyond the confines imposed upon them.

Aung Phyoe’s long-anticipated directorial debut unfolds through silences, subtle gestures and unspoken desires, finding tenderness amid the harsh realities of working-class life. With an evocative rhythm that moves between intimacy and oppression, the film explores how queer desire persists in a society where love between women remains deeply stigmatized. World premiering at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix, FRUIT GATHERING is a quietly powerful portrait of two women reaching toward connection and personal freedom in a world determined to constrain both.

This film is nominated for the HIFF 2026 Kau Ka Hōkū Award presented by Hawaiian Airlines.

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