Bringing solace through cinema
Suffered with nearly three decade long war and post-conflict complications, movie lovers of Northern Sri Lanka will experience some relief and relaxation with an opportunity to catch a glimpse of what is happening both in the local and world cinema with the Jaffna International Cinema Festival (JaffnaICF) which is now taking place in Jaffna.
Happening for the third consecutive year, the Jaffna International Cinema Festival started on September 15 and will go on till September 20. A non-partisan platform to explore contemporary forms of creative expression in cinema is presented by Agenda 14 in collaboration with the Fine Arts Department of the University of Jaffna and Ceylon Theatres. This year over 25 countries will take part in the festival with nearly 100 films including feature films, documentaries and short films. Started with the screening of ‘Ottayaal Paatha’ (the Narrow Path) by two Indian brothers, Satish and Santosh Babusenan, the curtain will come down on the festival with the screening of Sri Lankan filmmaker Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s ‘Devena Vihagun’ or ‘Burning Birds’ and an awards ceremony on September 20 at Majestic Cineplex, Cargills Square, Jaffna.
Honouring the seniors and encouraging the young generation of filmmakers, the festival will present four awards for Lifetime Achievement, Best Debut Film, Best International Short Film, Best National Short Film and Audience Award for the Most Popular Short Film.
Three members of the International Federation of Film Societies and International Federation of Film Critics, Dr. Etami Borjon (Croatia), Philip Cheah (Singapore) and Premendra Mazumder (India) will serve as jurors of the festival.
“This year’s festival will present two retrospectives of veteran filmmakers. First one is of Agnes Varda, the only female director of the French New Wave and the second one of Dr. Dharmasena Pathiraja,” said Festival Director Anomaa Rajakaruna speaking about the JafffnaICF 2017.
Varda’s retrospective will showcase ‘Jacquot de Nantes’ (1991), ‘Vagabond’ (1985), ‘The Gleaners and I’(2000), ‘Cleo from 5 to 7’ (1962) and ‘The Beaches of Agnes’ (2008). Pathiraja’s retrospective will showcase ‘Ahas Gawwa’, ‘Para Dige’, ‘Bambaru Awith’, ‘Soldadu Unnehe’ and ‘Mathuyam Dawasa’.
JaffnaICF will honour Dr. Dharmasena Pathiraja by presenting the Life Time Achievement Award for his contribution to Sri Lankan Cinema at the awards ceremony.
Ceylon Theatres who collaborated with the festival from its inception will present an award for the Best National Short Film with a cash prize of Rs. 100,000 from this year onwards.
Main Venues of the festival are Majestic Cineplex – Cargills Square, Kailasapathy Auditorium – Univesity of Jaffna and Hatton National Bank Auditorium, Jaffna. Fringe events will be held at British Council – Jaffna and American Corner in Jaffna.
During the festival, S. Someetharan, a documentary filmmaker from Sri Lanka/India and Dr. Etami Borjon from Croatia will conduct two master classes. Someetharan will conduct a masterclass on “Practical Challenges in Making Documentaries in Sri Lanka” and Dr. Borjon’s master class will focus on “Representing the Other: Ethics and Politics in Ethnographic and Indigenous Cinema”. Both topics will be useful for young film enthusiasts and students. Pre-registration for the masterclasses will be opened soon.
Government Film Unit of Sri Lanka will present a package of historical documentaries including “Nelungama” by Ralph Keen and “Kamam” by Tissa Abeysekera.
This year’s participating countries include France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Singapore, USA, Slovakia, Switzerland, Belgium, Chile, Pakistan, Nepal, Colombia, Vietnam, Canada and Australia.
“The main intention of JAFFNAICF 2017 is to celebrate independent cinema in the peninsula, recovering from the destruction caused by a 30-year-old armed conflict and war. Using art to reach out to people, this festival would create a space for communities across borders to interact with each other through cinema,” added Rajakaruna.
Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, Government Film Unit, Hatton National Bank, Jetwing – Jaffna, Andrew The Travel Company, Goethe Institut, British Council, and American Corner in Jaffna are the other partners of JaffnaICF 2017.
Embassy of France, Embassy of Switzerland, Embassy of Italy, Embassy of The Netherlands, Embassy of Romania, Consulate of Slovakia, High Commission of Canada, High Commission of Australia, Polish Institute New Delhi, and Embassy of Czech Republic in New Delhi will present films.
A scene from ‘Ottayaal Paatha’ (the Narrow Path)
A scene from ‘Amawaka’(Invisible Moon) directed by Vijitha Gunaratne