Sugar & Spice

In this tender portrait, director Mi Mi Lwin lovingly and humorously records the simple life of her parents in rural Myanmar as they try to earn a little money making sweets from palm sugar. After a quick prayer, her father shins up the tall palm trees to collect the sap that her mother then boils down to a sticky paste on a wood fire. This recurring daily routine eventually earns them just 15 dollars from the trader for many kilos of the sweet balls. While working, they discuss wealth, the meaning of life and the usefulness of being able to read. The differences between the spouses are revealed in these unintentionally funny conversations. Lwin’s father reads the paper and listens to the radio. Her mother can’t read – or, as she claims, she doesn’t like to – and certainly doesn’t want to know about all the bad news. Her motivation is to survive, while his is to better himself.