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"Handaya"
back on screen Made into a
six episode film is shown every Saturday from 7 to 7.30 pm, the
special TV belt dedicated for children's programme. Titus Totawatte,
filmmaker, TV programmer, pioneer of dubbing for the mini screen
and creator of the very popular cartoon characters for Sri Lankan
children made "Handaya" in 1979 and won major awards at
film festivals here and abroad. 'Handaya' won
the first international award for a children's film at the Italy
International Film Festival in 1980. It also won the special jury
award for the Best Film at Presidential award ceremony and four
awards for Best Director , Producer, Script Writer and the Editor
at the Sarasavi Film Festival and OCIC award for Creative Direction
in the same year. The cast includes
Henry Jayasena, Kithsirimewan Jayasena, Kingsley Wijesena, Muditha
Ranasinghe, Sanjaya Abeygunawardena, Sunny Navagaththegama and child
actors Pradeep Roshan Fernando, Kasun Mayurasinghe, Dharshana Panangala
and Indunil Galpihille who play the roles of 'Sena', 'Chutte', 'Ukku'
and 'Nangi'. Somapala Ratnayake directs the music, Andrew Jayamanne handles the camera producer-director Titus Totawatte does the script. Short
films fail to attract sponsors By Susitha
R. Fernando Indika Wickramaarachchi
another short filmmaker was responsible for the recent screening
of "the Census" together with his "The Rootless"
(Erandu Dandu) at Kalutara Town Hall and the objective of these
filmmakers was to evaluate the audience response to short films.
The problem
that should be highlighted was that there was no sponsorship from
the mini screen for these short films. In 'The Census'
a local government official visits a poor young woman to gather
information for a population census. As the thrust and parry of
their conversation progresses, she is bemused, irritated and angered
by the intrusive and blatantly stereotypical assumptions made about
a woman in her economic and social position that is implied in the
questions he asks about her married status, her sources of income
and her work. When he discovers that she's an artist who earns a
living as a maker of wooden dolls he is surprised and impressed
by the quality of her creations. She is equally surprised by what
she discovers about him. "The Cow" (Suddi) (adapted from a short story by Kerala writer M. D. Retamma) directed by Anoma Rajakaruna and produced by 'The Women and Media Collective' was lucky to be telecast as the sponsor. The Women and Sri Lanka Women NGO Forum screened the film in November 2000 on ITN channel. When contacted
Anoma who had done five short films starting from 1983 said the
theme and the presentation of these films was affected due to inability
to find sponsors. "The sponsors
are reluctant to support the films with themes away from tradition
and presented using film techniques yet being experiments. She proposed
that following the TV channels like 'Doordarshan' in India, the
local TV stations should reserve TV belts for short films periodically
with the support of willing sponsors with whom the TV stations have
access. She also suggested
that by getting together, the short filmmakers could reserve a regular
TV belt to telecast their directions with the help of sponsors.
"The Cow"
(Suddi) revolved around a young girl 'Sudu' who had many hopes -of
an education, a job and to fall in love. She was a dancer, and was
smart and playful. She dreamt of becoming a dance teacher. But too
much playfulness is not a desirable trait in girls. In our cultures
the birth of a girl is the birth of a burden. Marriage is the honourable
way for parents to free themselves from this burden. Sudu is the
older sister, she becomes the sacrifice. Her dreams, her hopes,
her life- are all given away in marriage. Out of the
five films directed by Anoma on different themes some of which were
not commonly handled, three were initially banned from being telecast
over the small screen. Among these 'Another Mother' (Amma Kenek)
the first minifilm to be banned by a special presidential order
and "Vilangu" which she directed for1989 World Women's
Day was banned by the then authorities but was telecast after six
years in 1994 when a board passed it rating it as a thought provoking
film. It can be seen
from the above that short film makers are being given step motherly
treatment compared to the episodic teledrama makers. This may be
due to sponsors not coming forward to sponsor a single episode as
they consider it a disadvantage. Speaking to
the producer-director of "The Rootless" (Erandu Dandu)-(Based
on the Hindi short story "Mathaka Vasthraya" by the Indian
writer Premchand Kaffen and translated into Sinhala by Kumudu Wijithge)
Indika Wickramaarachchi, the TV Times uncovered his plans to form
a group called "Yowun Cinema Nikethanaya". The objective
is to take these short films to remote villages and screen them.
His vision is to go to the audience if the audience cannot come
to him. For this he needs philanthropist sponsors who are willing
to sponsor films for arts sake. So far he has
not succeeded in getting any sponsor but hopes there will be some
help would be forthcoming to make his dream come true. "The Rootless" was woven around a father and son combine who struggle to earn a living by repairing shoes and umbrellas. The father is not averse to petty theft to supplement their meagre daily income. A traditional, conventional father-son relationship does not exist between these two men whose poverty, ethnicity and caste make them rootless non-persons in a morally decadent society. The son marries
a poor young girl but she soon becomes a burden on the two men when
she becomes pregnant. Badly malnourished, she and the child die
at childbirth. The two men go round the village begging for money
to meet the funeral expenses. The amount they collect tempts them
to spend it on drink, food and having a good time rather than on
the funeral, since it is the first time in their lives that they've
had such a large sum of money.
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Robert Crusz writer, film maker and researcher 
