Vimukthi's maiden feature for world's premier film fest :

The Road to Cannes

VIMUKTHI Jayasundera seems to me an unassuming person. I met him last Thursday for an interview on the eve of his first feature film being selected for the renowned Cannes International Film festival commencing next week.

He was not boasting about his film but rather spoke about the opportunities, events and persons that led him to this significant milestone in his cinematic career.

Vimukthi's first feature film Forsaken Land (Sulanga enu Pinisa - La Teree Abondonce) has been selected to the Cannes Festival where it will compete in the official section 'Un Certain Regard'.

Cannes Festival has two official selections: The Competition and Uncertain Regard (introduced in 1978). Each year, about 20 feature films are selected to be in The Competition, running for the Palme d'Or.

Forsaken Land is also competing for the Pix de la Camera d'Or, awarded to the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes selection categories.

The unique feature of Vimukthi's achievement is that this is the first time a Sri Lankan film being selected for this category titled 'Un Certain Regard'. Earlier, veteran film maker and doyen of local cinema Dr. Lester James Peries's Rekhawa had been selected for the main competition.

"Un Certain Regard was created in 1978 to absorb several festival sidebars and it is the main showcase of the festival," noted Vimukthi explaining that 'Un Certain Regard' could also be termed as 'exclusive inside.'

He said this category was intended to be a survey of current world cinema, and there are awards and prizes. Films that achieve official selection are screened in this section.

Vimukthi's film will have its worldwide premier show on May 14 with two screenings on the same day at the main festival. There will be 20 other screenings.

The film focuses on a time-frame where there is neither war nor peace. Set in the Sri Lankan location, it sheds light on this timeframe and lives of the people.

"This is a very unique situation where there is no war and no peace also. There is a time-frame and I got hold of this time factor. There are various characters and they seems to be frozen in one moment. That's where my theme lies," says Vimukthi adding that Sri Lanka's present situation was very much unique in the world context.

The film was shot in Kalpitiya area last year. The cast comprises Mahendra Perera, Kaushalya Fernando, Hemasiri Liyange, Nilupuli Jayawardena, Saumya Liyange and Sapurni Peiris. Director of photography is Channa Deshapriya while the script is also by Vimukthi.

The doors for creating this film was opened to Vimukthi after his short film 'Empty of Love' was selected to the Cannes Festival (2002) from the Students' category. That film did not contain any dialogue but only sound and was shot in two countries (Sri Lanka and France).

"That gave a real boost and exposure which helped me to draw producers. Also, my professor at the Film School Tasi ming Ling also encouraged me to go ahead with a feature film. He always discussed with me the plot selected by me."

Vimukthi also explains that Sri Lanka was among seven countries selected this year by the festival and expressed the confidence that it would also give wider recognition to his film.

His love for cinema began long years ago while he was a small child. "My parents used to take me for films and specially my father liked to watch science fiction and horror films. From that time I was keen to study the film medium."

Born and bred in Galle, Vimukthi came to Colombo and started writing film reviews for newspapers and also joined the advertising field. Later, he went into pursuing film studies in India. On his return to Sri Lanka (1998 - 99) Vimukthi joined the Government Film Unit and directed a short film in black and white which was a documentary.

He presented that film for a film festival in France and the head of the Le Fresnog School (National Studio of Contemporary Arts) who was satisfied with this film provided an opportunity for Vimukthi to further study film in France. "So, that's how I went to France and made this film later."

Vimukthi says his school assisted him to complete the film."They provided me facilities amounting to millions of rupees and that really helped my creation."

Vimukthi says he was proud to make this film soon within a few months of leaving the film school and also being selected for the Cannes festival.

Vimukthi received the 'Fonds Sud Cinema'grant from the French Government for this first feature film project 'Forsaken Land' (Sulanga enu Pinisa). Since its creation, 'Fonds Sud Cinema' has helped more than 300 film projects around the world.

Vimukthi says in the past, quality and excellent films have been produced in Sri Lanka by well-known Sri Lankan directors. "Had they been sent to international festivals such as Cannes, those films would have gained much international recognition. But those films were not sent - I think due to many factors. In my case, I got that opportunity."

- BHARATHA