Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls
VIEW EVENT DETAILSMargaret Mead Film Festival Opening Film
Part of the 2013 Margaret Mead Film Festival
Co-presented by Margaret Mead Film Festival and Asia Society
Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY
Dir. Juliet Lamont, 2012 | 75 minutes | Australia, Burma | U.S. premiere
Director in attendance
How many films combine the giggly fun of an all-girl pop group with rare insights into a country in the throws of transition from military dictatorship to civilian government? In September 2010, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be barred from the general election and a military regime would almost certainly return to power. Against this bleak backdrop an unlikely all-girl group arises when Australian free spirit Miss Nikki May meets hard-headed Burmese entrepreneur Peter Thein. Initially packaged for pop stardom, the Tiger Girls, recently renamed the Me N Ma Girls, begin a long and rocky journey toward self-expression, and with every step the women take toward freedom and actualization — the lyrics of their pop confections often brandishing a surprising feminist edge — Myanmar's political situation marches in tandem. The film, which we are thrilled to present on opening night of the 2013 Margaret Mead Film Festival, ultimately tells two interwoven stories of remarkable change and courage.