SIGNIS: Hall of Fame

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

It isn't Christmas but it's close to that! It is the 36th SIGNIS Salutation Festival 2012 taking place this September. It is the Silver Screen fraternity that will be receiving their presents in the form of awards in recognition for their contribution to film.

The SIGNIS Awards - Sri Lanka, formerly known as the OCIC Awards, are presented annually by SIGNIS, the Roman Catholic lay movement for communication media professionals, to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry. Daily News met SIGNIS Sri Lanka National Director Rev Fr Benedict Joseph to discuss this year's walk of fame.

Q: What is the importance of this year's SIGNIS film festival?

A: This is the 65th year of Sri Lankan cinema, an event we cannot belittle. We as an organization decided to celebrate this event in a meaningful way by making use of the OCIC festival to honor Sri Lankan cinema and also bring to memory all those pioneers who laboured hard to make this local cinema a reality. Therefore we thought we will try to have a preference to this event in our film salutation festival which is scheduled for September 1.

This is the 36th OCIC Salutation festival that we are holding. It has been held for an uninterrupted 36 years and we have tried to give maximum honor to local cinema.

Q: How will this year's event differ from those held in the previous years?

A: Last year, we felt that the time has come for us to move out from the traditional path and enter into new areas. As a starting point we identified three personalities who have given their lifetime services to the development of cinema. We played homage to them by presenting them with awards.

This year we have increased the number of awards that will be presented to such personalities. We are giving them an international award in recognition of their services to the Sri Lankan cinema.

There are other areas that have come up in the past few years. One is documentaries. We have introduced the Documentary category and this year we have received nearly 20 documentary films.

These are productions by young people. We will select the best out of these and give the maker due credit for his or her hard work.

Honorary mentions will also be made for a couple of productions which have captivated our interest.

There is also the Short Film segment. We were taken aback by the quality of the short films.

The youth have made creative productions even when the country was suffering from terrorism and when they did not have a forum where they could showcase their talents. We will select the best three or four productions out of the lot and name one as the winner. The others will be given an honorable mention.

Next up is the Electronic Media category. The Internet has revolutionized our lifestyle and there are quite a number of local websites which have been created and are used by young people to show their talents to the world.

The Song Visualization category comprises various languages and forms. This is a segment that has to be given due recognition.

We need to identify the quality and morale these people are projecting to the society. TV Commercials, Credit titles and Trailer and Introductory Electronic Announcements are some of the other areas which we have focused on.

Q: SIGNIS is a Catholic organization. What is their purpose in holding a festival like this?

A: Sometimes people have the wrong notion that we have certain agendas and we wish to camouflage our intentions. They even think that we are trying to placate the catholic community.

That is a false belief. We never take religious ideologies into cinema.

Our main concern is to look at cinema as an art, an industry and a source of inspiration to society.

We have a different outlook, our methodology is different and the way we apply ourselves is different. All our intentions are bona fide.

Q: How successful were the previous SIGNIS festivals?

A: Every year we have various opinions about the festival. Some views are encouraging while some embody criticism. We need feedback from the general public so that we will learn to develop the event through their ideas.

Q: Will these festivals go on indefinitely or will there come a point in time when you will decide that it is time for curtain call?

A: I think there are certain signs which tell us that the future is going to be quite tedious. Today we have Mega productions. But the government is trying to restrict these serialized teledramas to 100 episodes.

That is a fair deal. We are restricting ourselves to those productions which do not exceed 75 episodes.

It is difficult to finance such a glamorous event. Facing these harsh realities we can try to simplify things instead of erasing the festival off the future.

Q: Have you received positive or negative criticism from the public?

A: We have received many positive comments but there are certain peoples who say, "Is it necessary to have shows like this?". Right from the start people have been questioning this event. The purpose of having this festival is to evaluate local cinema.

Q: The recent trend in cinema is towards themes like Sri Lankan history, identity and Buddhism. Why aren't there much films made on Christianity?

A: I think Catholic films do not appeal to the general public. Therefore the people who enter into this area are minimal. However there are films which have been quite successful with a Christian character.

The Film Team ventures to Toronto

Deepa Mehta is returning to the Toronto International Film Festival 2012 with her ambitious big screen adaptation of the Booker of Booker Prize-winning novel 'Midnight's Children.'

The film was shot entirely in Sri Lanka in more than 651 scenic locations. It features more than 100 diverse roles and stars popular Indian celebrities like Satya Bhabha, Shabana Azmi, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Shriya Saran, Siddharth, Ronit Roy, Rahul Bose, Anita Majumdar, Zaib Shaikh and Anupam Kher.

"It's a rich cinematic experience, there's no question about that," said David Hamilton, who also produced Mehta's Oscar-nominated 'Water', 'Heaven on Earth' and 'Bollywood/Hollywood'.

"Whether they like the film or not, I don't think anyone will leave the theatre feeling, 'Oh that wasn't a cinematic experience.' Everyone will leave knowing that they'd seen something that's quite special, unique," he added

Hamilton notes that they had everything happening in the movie: they had snakes, cobras, live cobras; they had tanks, military equipment, bombers, things blowing up, people dying and people being born. He notes that one of the toughest days on set was a hospital scene that showed the hero's birth. The shot involved more than a dozen babies less than two weeks old.

"There was no 'Quiet on the set'," Hamilton recalled with a smile. "We could have just had the one baby in focus but to make it real, we wanted to actually have the babies there and they have to be within that two-week (age span). They change. A month-old baby doesn't look like a newborn. So we had to have them less than two weeks old. We had this holding room for the mothers and some of the fathers and all their babies. It was quite extraordinary, it was beautiful, actually."

Appreciating the efforts put by the The Film Team who handled the executive supervision, production design consulting, set building and budget planning, David comments, "It was a shared adventure and struggle to make this huge, ambitious and important film in Sri Lanka. The Film Team was involved in every step along the way and it is not possible to imagine making 'Midnight's Children' without them."

The Film Team headed by Ravindra Randeniya, Errol Kelly, Ainsley de Silva and Gopi Darmaratnam gave all the film makers from Canada and the UK a secure base to work within, and helped them keep the film within the restricted time frame that they had available.

"Once again Errol's creative genius overcame with alacrity the numerous challenges which appeared at the outset to have been impossible. This is a powerful executive team and well balanced with the critical creative skills necessary to help manage a project of a level of sophistication and complexity to match any worldwide. And we made such friendships, and had many good times also along the way in the midst of long, hard, exhausting days and nights!" Hamilton said.

Hamilton has invited the directors of The Film Team to join in the festivities at the Gala opening of the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on November 2.

IFFI 2012 calls contestants

The 43rd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI - 2012) accredited with the International Federation of Film Producers Association (FIAPF), will be held in Goa from November 20 to 30.

One of the main components of this Festival is the competition for feature films by directors from all continents.

The total prize money at this festival is approximately USD 200,000 which is much higher than some of the well known festivals globally.

All entries for the competition in the Foreign Section would have to be feature films in 35 mm or Digital (if originally made in digital format) and subtitled in English and produced between September 1, 2011 and August 31, 2012.

Entries are also invited for an out of competition section 'Cinema of the World' for films produced after January 1, 2011.

Full details of the festival, entry form and regulations can be downloaded from the festival's web site: www.iffi.gov.in

The last date for informing the organisers about participation is August 31.

'The Expendables 2' adds some muscle

'The Expendables 2' is the testosterone-filled, action-packed sequel to the 2010 worldwide box-office success 'The Expendables.'

From Sylvester Stallone and a powerhouse line-up of the biggest action-adventure superstars from around the world comes the next chapter in 'The Expendables' saga.

Reunited for what they think should be a quick, in-and-out mission, this tight-knit band of old-school mercenaries are about to find themselves at the brink of global disaster and driven to extract their own brand of up-close and personal vengeance.

'The Expendables 2' stars Sylvester Stallone (Barney Ross), Jason Statham (Lee Christmas), Jet Li (Yin Yang), Dolph Lundgren (Gunner Jensen), Terry Crews (Hale Caesar), Randy Couture (Toll Road), Bruce Willis (Mr. Church) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Trench), with newest cast members Liam Hemsworth (Billy the Kid), Yu Nan (Maggie), Scott Adkins (Hector), and martial arts legends Chuck Norris (Booker) and Jean-Claude Van Damme (Jean Vilain).

The film is screening at Majestic Cineplex's Platinum theatre and is imported by Aishwarya Films.

'The Dark Knight Rises' in Colombo

Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' 'The Dark Knight Rises' is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's 'Dark Knight' trilogy. The movie will be screening at Liberty Lite cinema and Majestic Cineplex's Platinum theatre from September 1.

It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act.

But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.

Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar winner Christian Bale again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. 'The Dark Knight Rises' also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar winner Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake.

'The Final Judgment' song release

Shehan Galahitiyawa's 'Hanguman Anantheye', the song which was included in the Japanese production 'The Final Judgment' was released at a gala event at cinnamon Grand Hotel last week.

The song was sung by music duo Bathiya and Santhush for the movie which starred Sri Lankan actress Umali Thilakaratne in a leading role.

It is directed by Masaki Hamamoto and is about an individual who fought to liberate his country from tyranny and gave freedom of speech and the opportunity to follow a religion back to the people.