Queen's Palace

Hla and Nyo Nyo live in a country torn by conflict. Hla is a Buddhist and the owner of a makeshift medical clinic in western Myanmar, where the Rohingya (a Muslim minority community) are persecuted and denied basic rights. Nyo Nyo is a Muslim and an apprentice midwife who acts as an assistant and translator at the clinic. Her family has lived in the area for generations, yet they are still considered intruders. Encouraged and challenged by Hla, who risks her own safety daily by helping Muslim patients, Nyo Nyo is determined to become a steady health care provider for her community.

As a child, Phyo Lay would be beaten for behaving like a girl. Now 21, he is comfortable living as a woman and wishes everyone could accept him for who he is. In this charming short, he introduces us to Burma's evolving gay culture.

The painter Rahula lives a modest but contended existence with his family in Mingun, a village on the banks of the Ayeyarwaddy 11 km upriver from Mandalay. As a new work takes shape on a canvas in his studio next door to the towering base of Mingun's famously brick pagoda, we learn how this easy-going artist has managed to survive a sizable chunk of Myanmar's chequered history. Sawing the air with a cheroot, the jovial Rahula also reveals how he acquired his unusual name, his now successful abstract style, and his supportive wife, of whom he admits: 'If it weren't for her, I would still be painting pictures of monks and pagodas for the tourists.'

When the Paungdaw Oo monastic school was founded near Mandalay in 1993 the aim was to provide orphans and children from disadvantaged families with a decent education. Fifteen years later, the school has swelled to 7200 pupils and is a resounding success not least on account of its inspired, child-centred approach to teaching (known as CCA) as well as the integral role played by teachers, parents and income-generating vocational training programmes. In this lively portrait, the school's abbot and several of Paungdaw Oo's teachers – many of whom were once pupils there themselves – talk about the school's CCA concept, the astonishing benefits of encouraging children to think for themselves, and how these methods can be a model for schools across Myanmar.