Lankan film wins top honour

The Sri Lankan film Forsaken Land by Vimukthi Jayasundara won the Harvest Talent Award for Best Film at The 3rd World Film Festival of Bangkok, the organisers announced yesterday.

The film was widely expected to win, so the announcement came as no surprise for many at the festivals closing ceremony. Forsaken Land, which also won this years Un Certain Regard award at the Cannes Film Festival in France, beat nine other films in the category to achieve the title of Best Film.

The film features unique cinematography. Its powerful imagery portrays the life of ordinary people in an atmosphere of fear, commented French film critic Nadine Tarbouriech, one of the festivals five jury members.

The film is set in Sri Lanka, where an on-off war has affected the country for more than two decades.

However, it sidesteps battle scenes and rallying cries to seek out a language for what war feels like on a personal scale.