TV Times

TV Times

‘Milla Soya’ ready for screen at last
Young film maker Boodee Keerthisena’s “Milla Soya” is scheduled to be released on EAP circuit in early October. Having been completed in 2002 the release had to be postponed due to numerous reasons including the inability to find a proper circuit for the film to be released. However Mille Soya had run around the international film circuit including the Singapore International Film Festival (IFF), Mumbai IFF (India), Cinemaya IFF (India), Mannheim-Heidelberg IFF Germany and Jeonju IFF (South Korea).

Boodoo’s earlier film ‘Sihina Deshayen’ (The Veils of Maya) won 31 awards in 1997 seven of which were for himself as the director, production designer and co-music composer.

After the success of the maiden effort Boodee made his second direction “Milla Soya”-‘Boungiorno Italia’ which took him a long time to complete and a story with a novel theme to the Sri Lankan moviegoers. His latest was a screenplay he had been writing since 1993 was inspired by his own village, family and friends.

The story of ‘Mille Soya’ is about a young Sri Lankan crossing the European borders in search of a better life. It is the grim realities of those who risked their lives in search of Lira now Euro, Mark, the Franc or the Dollar.

It revolves around a group of youth who are interested in becoming a popular musical band and who go to Europe (Italy) in search of a brighter future. The film depicts the after-effects of their risky flight. Speaking about the idea that prompted him to do the film Boodee told TV Times,

“While I was in New York for my studies and when each time I came home I found more and more of my friends missing. They had taken the risk and gone to Europe and many of them illegally to Italy.”

“With these experiences I started to write the story but while shooting I did not want a definite script or dialogue because the story was already in my mind and what I wanted was to express it” Boodee said.

Preserving the authenticity of the storyline the film was shot in several cities in Italy and locally in Koswadiya, Mahawewa, Marawila, Chilaw and Colombo. Boodee also was satisfied with his young and talented cast which included Mahendra Perera, Sangeetha Weeraratne, Dilhani Ekanayake, Ravindra Randeniya, Linton Semage, Sanath Gunathilake, Roger Seneviratne, Kamal Addararachchi, Veena Jayakody, W. Jayasiri and Nadee Kammalweera.

In the technical crew were Buddhi Keerathisena doing the production Ravindra Guruge edited while the camera was handled by K. A. Dharmasena. Art director was Chandraguptha Thenuwara and make up Wasantha Vittachchi.

‘Mille Soya’ also became a sort of a universal production as Boodee’s friends in the independent filmmaking sector of America and Europe and other parts of the world joined him to complete his film free of charge.

Among them were the cinematographer, Moshe Ben Yaish, an American Institute graduate, the assistant cameraman Cyril Thomas and some other technicians from Berlin and Poland and many other personal friends like the composer Luxman Joseph De Saram in Sri Lanka. Local bands “Jayasri”, “Wild Fire” and “Marians” were involved in doing the music.

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