Following a series of victories and recognition at a number of international film festivals, young filmmaker Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s debut film ‘Igillena Maluwo’ (Flying Fish) won yet another award recently at the 4th Bengaluru International Film Festival in India.
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| Director Sanjeewa Pushpakumara |
The film won the NETPAC award for the Best Asian Film at the festival held in Bangalore from December 15-22, 2011. The top award from the Asian Film section was presented by Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce.
In three previous editions of Bengaluru IFF, the NETPAC award has been won by contemporary world renowned filmmakers such as Asghar Farhadi (Iran), Girish Kasarvalli (India) and Yuhang Ho ( Malaysia).
‘Flying Fish’ competed with nine other films including directions by Cannes Award winning Japanese director Naomi Kawase and veteran Indian director Santosh Sivan and films like ‘Apart Together’, a Chinese direction by Quan’an Wang who won the Silver Berlin Bear - best script award at the Berlin Film Festival 2010.
‘Flying Fish’ has so far represented Sri Lanka at more than 25 International Film Festivals and has won numerous awards including Best Director Award in New Territories at the St. Pertersburg International Film Festival- KINOFORUM, Special Jury Mention for Red Chameleon Award and Blue Chameleon Award at 5th CinDi IFF aka Cinema Digital International Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea, Critic’s Choice Award, 5th New Jersey South Asian Film Festival, USA and was nominated for the Tiger Award at the 40th International Film Festival at Rotterdam.
The film is produced by Mano Nanayakkara (Asia Digital Entertainment(Pvt) Ltd and Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s Sapushpa Expressions (Pvt) Ltd.
The 4th edition of BIFFES, is resuming after a year’s pause and scheduled to open on December 15, 2011 to bring to the city the best of cinema from around the world, along with seminars, presentations and Master Classes. When the 4th BIFFES closes on December 22, 2011, it is envisaged that it would be firmly established as a special Bengaluru event and one of the premier film festivals of India.
For Bengaluru to become an important centre of international film culture is In keeping with Karnataka’s glorious heritage and the achievements in the fields of literature, fine arts and cinema, the annual Bengaluru International Film Festival is organized with the aim of designing an event with its own unique identity and character.
The reputed Kannada Film industry which produces over 100 feature films every year has made signal contributions to the quality and range of Indian cinematic expression. Kannada films have won national and international recognition and critical acclaim at various film festivals.
Starring Chaminda Sampath Jayaweera, Rathnayaka Marasinghe and Siththi Mariyam in the main roles ‘Flying Fish’ follows three interwoven stories involving forbidden love and ethnic tension. A village girl falls in love with a soldier and is impregnated. When the soldier abandons her, the girl and her father struggle to endure the shame. A widow and mother of eight children has an affair with another villager.
When her teenage son discovers the tryst, his reaction leads to dire consequences. Finally, a young girl is harassed at school by Tamil Tiger soldiers, who demand monetary “donations” that her family cannot pay. |
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