Cultural voyages CINEMA

Angu Rajendran

When we hear the word ‘films’ or ‘movies’, usually we associate them with entertainment. Some movies provide more than entertainment. They can also give you insights into different ways of life and even different cultures. Sri Lanka is increasingly becoming a melting pot of different cultures. A huge global village where many different cultures co-exist harmoniously most of the time!

A glimpse of life in different countries is not the only cultural take away you can get from movies. There are other angles we can see too. Just like good books, movies can take us to different places. For many of us, this can be a first step in understanding different cultures.

The Francophone film festival is a little sample of francophone culture. This is a culture that draws its richness from its diversity and its openness to others and that has a language that is spoken by more than 200 million people around the world!

The French speaking nations that belong to the International Organisation of La Francophonie represent one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world. Its members share more than just a common language. They also share humanist values promoted by the French language.

And here in Colombo, with the inauguration of the eighth edition of the Bonjour Cinema festival, the International Francophonie Day is being celebrated on March 20 as it is every year throughout the world and especially in the 77 member countries of the International Organization of La Francophonie.

Romance, courtship and love is what we usually associate the French culture with and in keeping with that, the announcement of the Bonjour Cinema was flavoured with the songs of the French singer from Brittany – Claude le Roux who enchanted the audience with songs from the romantic French film Jules et Jim.

This year the festival will show a dozen critically acclaimed movies from six of the member nations of the La Francophonie Organisation (OIF), namely France, Canada, Qatar, Romania,, Tunisia and Switzerland.

The films will be screened on the March 29(by invitation only), 30 and 31 and April 5, 6 and 7 at the BCIS auditorium, in the premises of the BMICH. All films are subtitled in English and the entrance is free.

What is most interesting is that this Bonjour Cinema festival will be a forum for short films in Sinhala mostly made by 35 year old Sri Lankans and specially picked for the festival by Agenda 14. Agenda 14 is an association that works on the promotion and development of Sri Lankan cinema. The festival will also include a one day master class by Agenda 14.

The first Sinhala film that will be screened on the inaugural day is the much acclaimed August Drizzle (Nikini Vassa).

Nikina Vassa – Sinhala film

This revolves around men and women in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The main character is a businesswoman called Somalatha. She is a mortician. People regard her profession as cursed and unclean. Fellow villagers avoid her when they can. Everyone seems to have forgotten that they themselves would one day die and be handled by her.

Molly in the Springtime – Canadian

This children’s film is about the flower festival when the King distributes honey cake to all the young girls. Molly Gingerbread is crowned the queen of the festival. The movie is about the adventures of Molly. The film will be screened on March 31 at 11 am.

Crossing Dates – Romanian film

The movie mingles 3 separate stories which take place over two days. The characters paths intersect, and they affect each other unintentionally. The film will be screening om March 31 at 3 pm.

Tomboy – French film

This children’s film explores how a little ten year old girl who moves into the neighbourhood, pretends she is a boy to play with the other boys in the playground. Come end of summer and will her secret be revealed? The film will be screening on March 30 at 3 pm.

A Screaming Man – French film

A sixty year old former swimming champion, is a pool attendant in a luxury hotel in Chad, Africa. When the hotel gets taken over by Chinese buyers, he is forced to give up his job to his son Abdel.The country is in the throes of civil war and armed rebel forces threaten the government. The authorities are demand contributions for the war effort from its citizens.

Adam is constantly harassed for his contributions but he has no money. All he has got is his son. The film will be screening on April 5 at 6.30 pm.

Incendies – Canadian film

Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad’s acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults’s voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love. The film will be screening on March 30 at 6.30 pm.

Lyrics Revolt – Qatar film

Lyrics Revolt captures leading Arab artists who employ the sharp political edge of hip hop during this game-changing time for the MENA region and beyond. The film will be screening on April 5 at 3 pm.

Another Man – Switzerland

Although he hasn’t got a clue about films, Francois writes reviews for a small local weekly. Rosa is a well-known critic working for a benchmark- setting daily. A kinky relationship develops between the two of them, leading Francois to discover the inner workings of a woman. The film will be screening on April 6 at 6.30 pm.

The Translator – Switzerland

Ira is lets herself be captured by a world unknown to her where she is trapped between Tashkov and his lawyer Mayard, a brilliant, charming but ambiguous man. Its too late when Ira realizes that danger hides where you least expect. The film will be screening on March 31 at 6.30 pm.

Money Exchange – Romanian film

A jobless Romanian worker leaves everything in order to emigrate to Australia. Once in Bucharest a crook leaves him penniless. In order to get his money back he realizes he is capable of anything. The film will be screening on April 6 at 11 am.

When the tenth month comes – Vietnam

In the final days of the war, a beautiful young widowDuyen faces a daily struggle to take care of her young son and ailing father-in-law all the while hiding from them the fact that her husband has recently been killed in battle.

The film will be screening on March 30 at 11 am.

Nostalgia for the Countryside – Vietnam

Quyen was a girl of the village who illegally went abroad and was paying a visit to her homeland.

Scenes and humans in the village left a deep and lovely image about the source in Quyen’s heart. The film will be screening on April 6 at 3 pm.

Reel honour for a heroine

Ishara Jayawardane

Seelambarei is a movie of a woman who is very much a heroine. A film full of suspense it is a story about one woman's courage during the civil war fought in Sri Lanka.

“We wanted to do this film because we believe that though the country is at peace we still have a long way to go. We wanted to do the film in Sinhala and Tamil medium throughout the country. We held the muhurath of the film on International Women's Day because our producer who is a woman wanted to honor women this day. Seelambarei is pseudonym, but this is a true story about a woman. We even have the evidence on movie reels. Today this woman is alive and well. She is a Sri Lankan-born woman who suffered immensely during the war,” said Production Manager Rohan Kodagoda.

Producer Chamali Madanayake is a one time associate of this woman.

“She was a girl who hated the Sinhalese. When she discovered I was Sinhalese she didn't talk to me for about two months. I can speak Tamil well and when I spoke to her in Tamil I got to know her life story. Soon a friendship built between the two of us. That was the basis for creating Seelambarei This is her life story.”

In the midst of this conflict this young woman has endured so many problems. Seelambarei is a story of love and family. In this respect she is exemplary carrying on her life in all that trouble.

Jackie supports Mali

Actor Jacqueline Fernandez has come out in support of an ailing elephant that is at Manila Zoo, Philippines, and has requested the government to shift it to a sanctuary.

On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia, Jacqueline has sent a letter to William John T Perera, consulate general of the Philippines in Colombo, Sri Lanka, urging him to do everything that he can to expedite the transfer of the elephant Mali from the inadequate Manila Zoo to a lush sanctuary.

Times of India








 

Life and times of a living legend

The story of the life and times of Sri Lanka’s iconic actress Irangani Roxana Serasinghe will hit bookstores across the country on March 29.

Titled Irangani ….. as told to kumardesilva, this handsome volume from Samaranayake Publishers is a vivid autobiography of the life of this legendary and much-loved stage, screen and television actress.

It takes readers from her carefree childhood days sailing down the Gurugoda Oya on paaruwas and the peace and quiet of Moodugomuwa, off Ruwanwella … from the Christmases and the Vesaks of her early years at the Mideeniya Walauwwa … from her school days at St. Bridget’s Convent where she remembers “wearing a hat with a veil to school”, and later Bishop’s College and its animated hostel life where the girls “used to eat anything and everything at midnight feasts” … to her dare-devil escapades at University when her sister Kamini and she “rode bicycles when good Sinhala girls were not supposed ride’.

This limited edition volume also takes readers to her foray onto the stage first at University and then at the Lionel Wendt Theatre … through her two marriages, to Prof. S.B. Dissanayake and then to Winston Serasinghe … to life in Bristol and London … to her two sons Ravi and Ranjith … to Ruk Rekaganno, her the voluntary service organisation which takes the message of conservation to grass roots Sri Lanka … to the big screen and her portfolio of death-defying experiences … to the little screen where she doesn’t quite enjoy “acting to somebody’s (off- camera) hand” … and now to a premature semi-retirement at Epitamulla in Pitakotte. “I consider it a singular honour that Serasinghe consented to my playing the role of ghost writer in this project”, says well-known media personality Kumar de Silva, Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters.

“As ghost writer, I also find myself landed in a strange dilemma in that this book is both mine and also not mine. There’s a very fine line that divides these two situations which I constantly kept crossing, in what I now consider both a richly fulfilling and totally humbling experience.

In retrospect, the both of us had our unforgettable moments these past two years, collaborating on this story, which I modestly hope, will soon end up as a collector’s item.”

“When Kumar offered me the opportunity to be the publisher of Serasinghe’s biography, I knew instantly that I had been offered the chance to publish a literary gem that will be greatly appreciated by many Sri Lankans. It is certain to be one of those books which will find a permanent space in the bookshelf of every house it finds its way to. Perhaps this will become one of those books that will be handed down to the next generation as a cherished possession by book lovers”, says the publisher Ranjith Samaranayake. Despite more than well over half a century’s fame and unbroken popularity with generations of Sri Lankans, Serasinghe is still the “village girl” at heart as she seamlessly combines charm and simplicity with sheer graciousness and absolute dignity.

“The village was an extremely quiet place. Now it is an entirely different story, sadly, with the sound of traffic and people. … Right through my life and even to this day, silence became, and still is, a very important part of my life …... I have looked for this kind of peace and silence all my life. Unfortunately I cannot find it anywhere today”, she says in her autobiography.

Coincidentally, this year, 2013, is significant in that the Lionel Wendt Theatre celebrates its 60th anniversary. Serasinghe records thus in her story ….. “At that time all the plays were shown at the King George’s Hall at the University of Colombo. The opening of the Lionel Wendt Theatre in December 1953 was quite an event. At the King George’s Hall we had to get the lights fixed on but here we had a proper theatre with proper lights and sound. Everything was geared for proper performances. We had brand new dressing rooms and toilets too. We opened the theatre with Maxim Gorky’s The Lower Depths. I played Nastya. Colombo did not have much entertainment at that time and we used to attract a really good crowd.”

Irangani ….. as told to kumardesilva is a limited edition volume and will be available at bookshops across the country from March 29. Pre-orders at a special discounted price are now open at the Samaranayake Publishers website – http://www.expo-graphic.com