‘VIKAARI’ wins Best Short film at Screamfest Film Fest in LA
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Sandun Seneviratne
‘Vikaari’, Sri Lankan movie co-directed by Sandun Seneviratne and British filmmaker Charlie Bray won the best Short film Award at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival concluded last week.
Held in Los Angeles, Screamfest is one of the world’s biggest film festivals dedicated for the genre of ‘horror’ movies.
Ashan Dias in Vikaari
Considered as ‘The Sundance of Horror’, legendary directors such as Clive Barker, Wes Craven and John Carpenter sit on the advisory board of Screamfest. This makes it the first Sri Lankan film to be selected by Screamfest, placing it in legendary company with horror sensations such as ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘The Grudge’ which made their premieres in previous years.
America’s largest and longest running horror movie festival, Screamfest, awarded this year’s top movies, filmmakers, actors and screenplay during the festival’s closing night at The Screamfest Drive-In. The festival which ran from October 6 – 15 at the Regency Theater Plant Drive-In in Van Nuys, had launched careers – providing a platform for filmmakers and actors to showcase their latest work to horror film enthusiasts and general audiences.
British Filmmaker Charlie Bray
‘A Ghost Waits’ directed by Adam Stovall won the Best Director, the Best Picture and the Best Actor for MacLeod Andrews. Among the other winners at the festival were the Best Editing-Baptiste Rouveure – ‘Anonymous Animals’, the Best Special Effects Makeup – Geir Njarðarson –‘Thirst’, the Best Visual Effects -Atli Þór Einarsson –‘Thirst’, the Best Musical Score -Damien Maurel – ‘Anonymous Animals’, the Best Comedy Short -Kalley’s Last Review’, the Best Screenplay -Bloody Mary by Dan Ast and John C. Thursby, the Best Actress -Lisa Kay – ‘Sweet River’ and the Best Cinematography -Tim Tregoning – Sweet River
Featuring Ashan Dias, Bimsara Premaratne and British actor Richard Dee Roberts Vikaari revolves around the widespread birth of babies with similar deformities, the movie follows the ensuing worldwide panic. The children, nicknamed Vikaari, all share a remarkable set of characteristics and may even possess paranormal abilities.
Sandun Seneviratne who also wrote and directed Sri Lanka’s first big budget sci-fi web series ‘Seer: Death Sight’ says he aims to produce Hollywood inspired sci-fi genre films in Sri Lanka that can compete in the international market in terms of storytelling and production value.
Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Sandun first studied film-making under internationally acclaimed director Sammy Pavel. His first short film ‘Opinion’ revolved around the devastation caused by the Tsunami in Sri Lanka. He then went to London Film Academy to further develop his skills in film-making where he made several Short films in Super 16 and HD.
One of the short films he wrote and directed called ‘The Seer’, a post-apocalyptic sci/fi action film starring Joey Ansah from the hit Hollywood film ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, was selected to be screened at several international genre film festivals including the Phoenix Comicon Film Festival. The Seer was released on Facebook with added footage as a web series called Seer: Death Sight and has become a viral sensation in Sri Lanka. Returning to Sri Lanka, Sandun started his production company Synhedrion Studios, in order to write, direct and produce Hollywood style genre pictures.
Sandun aims to make films that can compete with Hollywood in the international market in terms of storytelling and production value.