“Most of the film industries have less than 3% female participation behind the camera”- Anomaa
View(s):Colombo International Women’s Film Festival is a brainchild of filmmaker, renowned festival director and juror Anomaa Rajakaruna.
Anomaa Rajakaruna
Artistic Director of ColomboIWFF, Ms Rajakaruna highlights the dearth of female film artistes in the industry and challenges faced by them specially in an artistic medium dominated by men.
According to Anomaa over the past few decades, the issue of women’s position in the film industry has increasingly been debated across film industries worldwide. The underrepresentation of female directors in competitions at many major festivals, and the lack of gender equality in terms of access to the industry, training, funding for film production, working conditions and attitudes towards women in the industry have been highlighted as some of the key issues discussed at many forums internationally. “Situation in the Asia is no different. Most of the film industries have less than 3% female participation behind the cameras in Asia and the portrayal of women in cinema is stereotyped. Women are valued as a mother, wife, or lover and they are portrayed as dependent on other characters, over-emotional, and most of the time confined to low-status jobs,” said Anomaa speaking to the Sunday Times.
“In order to change these stereotyping, which also has an influence on audiences, going beyond mere acting more films need to be made from women’s perspective and more women need to be involved in professional roles in the industry. The Sri Lankan situation remains the same despite, female directors such as Sumithra Peries, Inoka Sathyanagni, Sumathy Sivamohan and few others entering the industry. Especially in Sri Lanka, female participation and contribution in all technical aspects of cinema remains at a low point even in the region,” she emphasised. However Anomaa is positive about the future as there is a new generation of young female filmmakers emerging in the region. She is of the view that women are and women have been involved in the film industry in all roles.
“Even in Sri Lanka, during the last few years I have seen over 30 young female filmmakers emerging. They are young, interested in using film as a medium for expression, some of them are tech savvy and most importantly they are from all over Sri Lanka. On the other hand they are discussing female desire sexuality, violence against women and other topics very bravely through their short films. They need a platform to showcase their films and their work should be exposed to the world beyond our shores”.
Last year Anomaa had invited a group of prominent female producers, actors and few other industry professionals to launch a women’s international film festival in Colombo in March 2019. Veterans from the film fraternity including Sumitra Peries, Malini Fonseka, Sriyani Amarasena, Swarna Mallawarachchi, Kaushalya Fernando, Renuka Balsooriya, Yashodha Wimaldharma, Sangeetha Weeraratne and several other supported the festival.
“Our aim was to create a platform for female filmmakers and other female industry professionals in the country and beyond,” she explained her objecitves.
However the ColomboIWFF has not completely overlooked males. “Our film festival has a special focus on “Men for Women” which showcases the work of male directors focusing on women’s issues. In a women’s film festival we have embraced our male counterparts because their commitment is very important to our cause,” Anomaa added.