The making of a movie on a master
Capturing the magic: Shooting at Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel
‘Serendipitous’ is how director Afdhel Aziz describes the 12 days his team spent filming five Geoffrey Bawa buildings: Kandalama; the Lighthouse Hotel; Red Cliffs; Lunuganga and the Ena de Silva house – capturing stairwells and owls; Ena’s batiks and moss covered orange walls and statues.
The cinematic chef d’oeuvre, titled ‘Bawa: the Genius of the Place’ takes you on a bird’s wing across our island (with stunning footage) to the five properties and also through their interiors. The film will have its world premiere on July 15 at 4 p.m. at the Scope CCC Cinemas in Colombo.
What was so ‘serendipitous’? Well for example there was the day at the Lighthouse when, the day’s shooting done, the team went into the hotel when way high up in the cupola above Laki Senanayake’s stairway many birds were soaring, circling ready to roost for dusk. It was a magical moment that now serves as an unforgettable impression in this poem of a movie.
And then there was the chair. The classic chair they used to represent Bawa, which Afdhel had instinctively associated with the master architect even before he learnt from the former cook at Red Cliffs that it was indeed a favourite perch of Bawa’s.
Wearing many hats: Afdhel Aziz
The chair served in the film as a venerable symbol just as elegant as the lanky architect in his signature cotton clothing, sandals and walking stick who once occupied it.
Afdhel, the director, wears many hats and after he left our shores at 17 has been a speaker, writer, author, thought leader, and an expert on brand purpose, marketing innovation, and how business can be a force for good.
His father, lawyer Shibly Aziz, was the former Attorney General of Sri Lanka and his mother Fathima Aziz, had a long career in working in marketing for airlines such as British Airways and Delta, and was the former President of the Ladies’ College OGA.
A graduate of King’s College London and the London School of Economics, Afdhel is one of the most inspiring voices of Good is the New Cool, a global movement and purpose-driven community dedicated to serving the creators and innovators using business and culture as forces for good.
His bestselling books on this subject are ‘Good is The New Cool: Market Like You Give A Damn’, and the recent release ‘The Principles of Purpose’.
Serendipitously, Afdhel discovered, was how Bawa also liked to do things. The architect arrived first at a site with no ‘preconceived notion’. “It was like jazz”- the way he improvised and had a creative dialogue with the site, Afdhel says.
For Afdhel, growing up in the ‘seventies and the ‘eighties in a Colombo and suburbs touched by Bawa buildings (they would holiday also in the outstation resorts he designed) Bawa was a hero without him realizing it.
There were few such giant figures at the time when it came to the arts, and Bawa coloured the backdrop of his imagination; it was only making the film that made him realize that Bawa had been looming hidden in plain sight all the time.
Research was assiduous. Afdhel read ‘every book and internet article’ on Bawa and spoke to the remaining Bawa associates like Channa Daswatte, Murad Ismail and the environmental architect Sunela Jayawardene as well as clients like Hiran Cooray and Pradeep Jayawardene.
The premise of the film was to look at how Bawa faced challenges in five major projects- ‘an artist through five acts’. “Lighthouse had no beach so he went for stunning views of the ocean and rocks” and how, similarly, his genius provided the perfect, unique response to each place.
But the bon vivant part of Bawa is not what Afdhel least appreciates. “He managed to construct a life for himself that was fun and joyful – and he was a very funny person- there was a lot of jokes he would make that people would talk about in the film.”
A perfect unique response to each place: Kandalama. Pix by Paul Vu
Aerial shooting was a big part of filming and Afdhel had to collaborate with the Sri Lanka Air Force. His could be one of the first detailed three-dimensional records of the buildings.
The greatest epiphany Afdhel had in location was that Bawa made his buildings like gardens.
“He makes them blossom…, that’s why no two buildings (of his) are alike.”
That was also why he was happy to let his buildings grow and evolve over time- and “why you can’t tell where the garden ends and the building begins.”
The film’s crew had a fizzy start. Entirely Sri Lankan, they were boosted that “we have a job to do as filmmakers – we have to make our country look so beautiful, that people around the world will get on a plane and come to Sri Lanka and come and spend their tourist dollars to help the country.” It was fillip enough.
The film is for Sri Lankans and non-Sri Lankans but also especially for the Sri Lankan diaspora ‘like myself’ who Afdhel hopes will fall back in love with their country.
“And also get on a plane and come see it for themselves again. I know how many Sri Lankans are out there who don’t have a connection to their country; and I know this film will spark a connection…”
The premiere will be a charity event in association with the Ladies’ College Old Girls’ Association, to raise funds for the renovation of their hall. Tickets priced at Rs. 2,500 are available for sale at the Ladies’ College OGA Secretariat from July 4 (Monday – Saturday) between 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. For more information, call 0112575469.
A second show will be announced soon for those who miss the premiere.
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