Battle for a movie
Filming ‘Boradiya Pokuna’
Ending a long-fought battle with successive Censor and Public Performance Boards, young filmmaker Satyajith Maitipe has finally released his debut film ‘Boradiya Pokuna’ (Scent of the lotus pond). After a struggle of more than a decade, the director Satyajith or ‘Satya’ says the time spent on his long battle was not wasted and he is still positive. ‘Satya’ was a lecturer in English at the Colombo University and he is now reading for the Masters in Applied Psychology. Following is an excerpt from the discussion.
TV Times: Can you tell what exactly happened to your film?
Satya: In October 2003 we finished the production of our film and from the beginning of 2014 we screened it at international film festivals and it had a very positive response. Problems started from November 2010 when we presented the film to the Censor Board or Public Performance Board.
TVT: What was the exact problem?
Satya: The Censor Board at that time and some of the members in the later boards wanted the complete removal of a few scenes, which in my view was going to destroy the story and the lives we were going to portray in our film.
Our argument was that the sex scenes and the taboo words were part and parcel of the story and character development. We could not compromise. Some members of the Censor Board had branded my direction as an ‘NGO’ type of film while some had rejected it claiming it was an original Sri Lankan film.
Filmmaker Satyajith Maitipe
TVT: So what happened to the film?
Satya: The film was finally bought over by a company with genuine plans to promote cinema, while doing a good business. This company helped many other directors like me. But its plans could not be realised, maybe it was not aware of the dynamics of the cinema industry. So nothing was happening not only with regard to my film but to many others as well.
TVT: So how come the film is released now?
Satya: Sunil T. Fernando who had seen the film was interested in releasing it. With the experience of an exhibiter, he told me that the film has a potential for a Sri Lankan audience.
TVT: So according to you where did your film go wrong?
Satya: It was a combination of several factors. On my part I was not able to foresee this situation. I could have saved the film had I shot those scenes in a different way. Perhaps I was inexperienced and I was stubborn. You don’t foresee the situations on how the Censor Boards behave.
TVT: Do you think that the theme you tackled 15 years ago is still suitable?
Satya: It is in the hands of the audience. The film has been screened locally and internationally and exhibitors have seen it and most of them until today have a positive impression and view that it relavent today as well. So I’m very positive about the film. After all the audience is the main decider.
TVT: How do you feel about your struggle today?
Satya: I went on stubbornly fighting till they accepted my film. There could have been other ways of handling it like adjust or compromise. Some of my friends thought I should have retaliated. Anyway I did not have enough power to take them to task. I did not have money to take it to courts and I did not have political backing. Some of my colleagues went on with the cinema but I was an outsider. Seriously I don’t regret. It was not a waste of my life. I have lived my life. I think positively and it has perhaps strengthened some of my colleagues.