TV Times

TV Times

Vimukthi makes it to Cannes
By Susitha R. Fernando
Young filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara has become the second Sri Lankan filmmaker to be honoured at the International Cannes Film Festival after veteran Dr. Lester James Peries.

The Sri Lankan entry to the competitive section of the Cannes Film Festival is made after forty-eight years. The country’s most experienced director Dr. Lester James Peries’ maiden Rekhawa was the first Sri Lankan film to contest at Cannes in 1957.

Vimukthi’s debut feature film has been selected within the official selection for the Camera d’ Or (Golden Camera) which will be awarded for the Best Director for the first feature film at the 58th International Cannes Film Festival which is scheduled to be held from May 11 to 22, 2005.

Commenting on the highlights of this year’s festival, the head of the film selection body at Cannes Festival, Thierry Frémaux said that in the competition section throughout the selection, Asian cinema has confirmed its strength with China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and even Sri Lanka.

“The continent is very active and illustrates its creativity in both genre cinema,” he remarked. It is no longer suitable to talk about their cinema in terms of emergence but in terms of confirmation, it is a strong trend that has a great public following. In geographical terms we also have to acknowledge the emergence of Latin America: Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Very interesting things are happening there counterbalances the presence of Asia.

This year, world acclaimed Iranian film Director Abbas Kiarostami, will be the President of the jury for the Camera d’ Or while Hollywood filmmaker Alexander Payne will be the President of the jury.

With this nomination, Vimukthi joins the rare group of world famous filmmakers who were selected to the Cannes Film Festival with their debut feature films such as Satyajit Ray, Ingmar Bergman, Francois Traffaut, Dr Lester James Peries, Shaji. N. Karun and Samira Makhmalbaf.

“Sulanga Enu Pinisa” (Forsaken Land) is the maiden film of Vimukthi who has a number of short films. They are “Thibiri Dela ”(1996), “The Land of Silence” (2001) and “Vide Pour ’Amour” (2002) to his credit.

In “ Sulanga Enu Pinisa” the murder epitomizes loss of humanity, and defines mankind’s gradual descent into madness and barbarity. The film revolves around a few isolated characters living in a vast, desolate region close to the theatre of war.

The film follows each individual as they wonder around aimlessly, and seemingly without hope; in a quest for meaning. The harsh terrain and the trauma of past violence have left them incapable of finding any resolution to their alien existence. Despite the cease-fire, the characters see no redemption from the horror of their past or their uncertain present. The listless existence of one of the villagers leads to an incompressible crime: driven to murder an unknown assailant under the cover of darkness, the scene is a haunting allegory to Raskolnikov’s murder of a money-lender in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment.

The film is written and directed by Vimukthi Jayasundara, co- produced by Philippe Avril, (Unlimited France) and Dr Chandana Aluthge (Film Council Production) in Sri Lanka.

The script of the film won the Prince Claus Film Grant Award for the best Cine Mart project at the Rotterdam Film Festival 2004. The film was financed by the National Centre for Cinematography (CNC), European TV Channel Arte, with Onoma as world sales agent and French distributor.

It was shot in Sri Lanka last year with the assistance of a technical specialist from France and the cast includes Mahendra Perera, Kaushalya Fernando, Nilupuli Jayawardana, Hemasiri Liyanage and Saumya Liyanage.

Channa Deshapriya handled photography, Nadeeka Guruge directed the music and Gisele Rapp-Meichler and Rukmal Nirosh handled the Editing.

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