Finding ‘Catharsis’ through film
It was hard work, strong friendships and above all a deep love for film that was the root of ‘Catharsis’, which bagged the award for Most Promising Filmmaker at the 2019 Agenda 14 Short Film Festival. This week we got the chance to converse with the 16 year old members of the cast and crew of ‘Catharsis,’ who showed us that it’s never too early to follow your passions.
Pics by Amila Gamage
‘Catharsis’ is an Elysian Entertainment Presentation and an Indie Crew Production. Directed by Thisen Umagiliya, and written by Thisen & Sandali Pathirana (who also stars in the film) in late 2018, Catharsis is an original psychological drama short that revolves around two opposing egos of the same person, and deals with themes like identity, growing up, personal changes, and the stories we write vs reality.
The story was inspired by personal experiences and concepts from films they both love, and with Sandali’s background in writing poetry and Thisen’s own perspectives, they were able to pool their creative ideas into one dynamic screenplay.
In terms of visuals, Thisen drew upon his own vast and ever-growing knowledge of films and was inspired by many of his favourites. Notable examples of this include Richard Ayoade’s film The Double (2013), and scenes from Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice (2014) and Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Ladykillers (2004).
Thisen likes to stay minimalistic and true to life in his films, without relying on heavy visual effects or fast paced action that is more characteristic of modern blockbusters. “It was about telling this simple story with the resources we had,” he explains. Assistant Director, Dulmin Perera adds that through discussing the shots with Thisen and editing the film, he learned a lot about the process.
With any independent film, factors like obtaining funding and sourcing proper equipment are stressful, but once those obstacles were overcome, the crew tells us the process became exciting. “Writing with friends and editing was really fun, we learned a lot about movie making.” they tell us.
The learning process was greatly aided by filmmaking company Magic Lantern, whose team of professionals brought the young filmmakers’ vision to life. “We never thought it would go this far,” Thisen explains, while main actor Moditha Dabare adds that a lot of vital support came from veteran cinematographer Channa Deshapriya, from not only affording the equipment, but also his help in distributing Catharsis in film festivals.
The learning process was greatly aided by filmmaking company Magic Lantern, whose team of professionals brought the young filmmakers’ vision to life. “We never thought it would go this far,” Thisen explains, while main actor Moditha Dabare adds that a lot of vital support came from veteran cinematographer Channa Deshapriya, from not only affording the equipment, but also his help in distributing Catharsis in film festivals.
Catharsis had its premiere screening at the 9th Agenda 14 Short Film Festival held at the Goethe-Institut Sri Lanka, where they were the youngest entrants. Winning the Most Promising Filmmaker award was an experience that Thisen describes as “surreal”, especially since he started his journey in filmmaking by simply recording clips on his phone.
“We made random videos with friends, we tried making a short film in 2017 called The Detectives, which was terrible! But it was a learning experience,” he laughs. Following one more experimental short film in 2018, Thisen believes their current film Catharsis is their first proper foray into filmmaking. “A movie you can take seriously,” he adds.
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Though they were quite nervous about showing their film to a serious film-loving audience, the feedback has been very positive so far. Thisen adds that the most interesting part was the different interpretations of the film, which is exactly what they’d hoped for. “That’s something I really wanted to do: make a movie where people can see it in different angles.”
“A lot of hard work was put in by everyone” Moditha adds.
The motivation to continue making films is at an all-time high for the young filmmakers, and they hope to continue to hone their skills. Thisen tells us he is already working on an idea for next year, and personally hopes to keep doing this for as long as he can.
‘Catharsis’ will be screened once more on January 8 at the Goethe-Institut.