Best debut films in competition announced
The collection of newest films that are competing for the Best Debut award at the 4th Jaffna International Cinema Festival 2018 was announced last week.
‘Sulanga apa ragena yawi…’
The list of films includes ‘Bahuchithawadiya’ (The Undecided ) by Malaka Dewapriya (Sri Lanka)
‘Passage of Life’ directed by Akio Fujimoto (Japan- Myanmar), ‘Komala Rocket’ (An Orange Ship) by Noor Imran Muthu (Bangladesh), Andar Kahini (Self Exile) by Arnab Middya (India), ‘My Son is Gay’ by Lokesh Kumar (India), ‘Sulanga apa ragena yawi…’(The wind beneath us) by Nuwan Jayathilake (Sri Lanka), ‘Loktak Lairembee’ (Lady of the Lake) by Haobam Paban Kumar (India) and Legend of Gobi by Davaajargai Tserenchimed (Mongolia). During the festival held from October 3 to 8 at different venues Jaffna, a number of world renowned films from Polish cinema will be screened under the ‘Country Focus’ category at the University of Jaffna.
They include Wojciech J. Has’ 1973 film ‘The Hourglass Sanatorium at 1.15 pm on Oct 4 at, Andrzej Munk’s ‘Eroica’ (1958) at 1.15 pm on Oct. 5, ‘Night Train’ (1959) by Jerzy Kawalerowicz at 10 am on Oct 6, ‘A Short Film About Killing’ (1988) by Krzysztof Kieślowski on Oct 7 and ‘Ashes and Diamonds’ (1958) by Andrzej Wajda.
The Jaffna ICF 2018 also offers the Sri Lankan film lovers an opportunity watch some of the remarkable films like Deepa Mehta’s ‘Anatomy of Violence’ (English Version) at 3 pm on Oct 6 at Jaffna Public Library. The screening will be followed by a moderated discussion. ‘Landfill Harmonic’, a 2015 documentary film directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley tells the story of Paraguayan music teacher Favio Chavez and his Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a children’s orchestra in Paraguay which performs with materials recycled from a trash landfill near Asuncion. It will be screened at 4.15 pm on Oct. 4 at the University of Jaffna.
Among the Sri Lankan films that are scheduled to be screened at the festival are ‘Thundenek’ (Her, Him, the Other) by Prasanna Vithanage, Vimukthi Jayasundara and Asoka Handagama at 4.15 pm and ‘Demons in Paraside’ by Jude Ratnam at 6.45 pm on Oct. 5, ‘Avilena Sului’ by Chinthana Dharmadasa at 4.15 pm on Oct. 6 and Malaka Dewapriya’s ‘Bahuthithawadiya’ at 6.45 and ‘Sulanga Apa Ragena Yawi’ (The Wind Beneath us) by Nuwan Jayathilake at 10 am on Oct 7 and all these films will be screened at Majestic Cineplex Jaffna. Veteran filmmaker Dharmasiri Bandaranayake’s documentary
‘In Search of Paradise’ will be screened at 10 am on October 5 and King Ratnam’s Tamil film ‘Komali Kings’ will be screened at 4.15 pm on Oct. 4 at Jaffna Public Library.
Evergreen Silver Screen: Cinema Halls in Jaffna Town by Dr. T. Sanathanan
This walk connects cinema halls that were active before the civil war in Jaffna through memories of social practices. It tries to unpack the metamorphosis of meaning of cinema hall in Jaffna through histories of modernity, militarisation, economic embargo and displacement.
- Schedule : 5th October (Friday), 6th October (Saturday) and 8th October(Monday)
- Starting time : 7.30am
Jaffna ICF is presented by, ‘Agenda 14’ in collaboration with Ceylon Theatres and the academic partner is Fine Arts Department of the University of Jaffna.
For more information on the Jaffna ICF 2018 visit www.jaffnaicf.lk
Bahushithawadiya
Landfill Harmonic