Vision of youth

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

Behind the scenes is the brainchild of Lakpathy Wijesekara. Its a story about a group of students determined to make a film and launch it onto the silver screen. All the actors were A/L students from Royal College. The two actresses were from Ladies College and President's College Nawala.

None of the cast in this film had acted in a feature film before; therefore they had to engage in a series of acting workshops and exercises prior to filming.

It is a real life story with almost everything done by the group of youngsters - from funding (with assistance by parents) to filming. It is their story - a story of the tremendous difficulties they had to surmount to make the film which they eventually did.

Behind The Scenes filmed at the National Film Corporation is the result of commendable effort done by students who were not afraid to strive to make their dreams come true. In reality, it is a profile of courage by an inexperienced group of young people in a transition between adolescence and adulthood. It is a brave effort and bravery is one factor that helps to set films apart from each other. It is bravery that sometimes gives you that edge.

Courage must be admired, especially when it comes from a person who is young and unafraid to think of great feats. But more than courage, it is also imagination which moves me when I think of this film, because this film had that element of imagination. Whenever I think of imagination I remember a verse in a book I possess in my library; it is from Alexander written by Valerio Massimo Manfredi;

"Where do your eyes roam

Where does your heart wander

Yours is a quest for far off lands"

Behind the scenes is an example of bravery in the performing arts. It may not be Hollywood or Bollywood and, it may not even be up to Sri Lankan standards but it is a brave attempt.

Behind scenes may not win an award in Sri Lankan Cinema but it was a well fought out battle getting it onto the screen.

At the end of the film a caption went on screen saying that the film is based on a real story. By watching the one and a half hour film I realized that this is exactly what it was; a well fought out battle.

Behind the scenes is the first feature film produced by Unlimited Entertainment. It is the culmination of the experiences gained by a team of students, not only through making of short films, filming of school events and theatre productions, but also through the premature exposure to the hardships and realities in their zealous voyage towards making their own film. It is showcasing the talents and passion of Lakpathy Wijesekara the Director and his team towards the silver screen.

The feature was self produced. Filmed on a low budget and there was no professional support at any level; the work is an achievement of a complete student coordination.

The film was shot by a MD 10000 camera, using the simplest of film equipment, it captures a facet of teens not touched by Sri Lankan cinema before. In most of the scenes, the actors had to multi -task while acting by holding lights , boom mikes and sun reflectors for fellow actors.