Young Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s maiden films which has already won a number of international acclaimjs recently won the Critic’s Choice Award at 5th New Jersey South Asian Film Festival, in New Jersey, USA.
Dealing with the spoils of the Sri Lankan civil war, the film that follows three intertwined stories, earlier won ‘Best Director’ at St.Petersburg International Film Festival-KINFORUM,Russia, ‘Blue Chameleon’ Award at 5th CinDi IFF aka Cinema Digital International Film Festival ,Soul, South Korea, Special Jury Mention for Red Chameleon Award at 5th CinDi IFF aka Cinema Digital International Film Festival ,Soul, South Korea and nominated for Tiger Awards at the 40th Rotterdam International Film Festival, New Directors Award at the 37th Seattle International Film Festival, Lino Micciche Award at the 47th Pesaro International Film Festival, Italy and NETPAC Award at 40th Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Based on the director’s own life experiences, the film reflects the deep social and psychological trauma of the country’s twenty-six-year-long civil war. A young girl is harassed at school by Tamil Tiger soldiers, who demand monetary “donations” that her family cannot pay. A village girl is impregnated by a soldier. When the soldier abandons her, the girl and her father struggle to endure the shame. A widow and mother of eight children can’t help falling in love with a benevolent villager.
Tragedy strikes when her teenage son discovers the affair. Pushpakumara began his career as a presenter for an FM radio channel. Displeased with this job, he left it soon after to become a freelance newspaper journalist writing about film, drama, and other cultural events for an alternative newspaper and later became a television presenter, scriptwriter, and producer for the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and Sirasa TV. In 2009, he again underwent training in the Asian Film Academy as part of the Busan International Film Festival. Pushpakumara is currently completing an advanced degree in film-making at Chung-Ang University in South Korea, under the Korean government scholarship program.
Pushpakumara’s first feature film, Flying Fish (Igillena Maluwo), received a grant from the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam to support its post-production costs.
Flying Fish has so far represented Sri Lanka at 15 international film festivals including the 37th Seattle IFF, Seattle, USA, 47th Pesaro IFF,Italy, 27th - Nuovo Cinema Competition for Lino Micciche Award, CINEMATEK (The Belgian Royal Film archive)- Brussels , 11th Indie World Film Festival, Brazil, 30th Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada, London Film Festival (LBF), Hawaii International Film Festival,USA, 47th Chicago IFF,Chicago ,USA and it is to be competed at 15thTallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia,
12th TOKYO FILMeX IFF, Novembe, 42nd International Film Festival –Goa in India and 36th Hong Kong IFF,Hong Kong. |
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