The Indus Valley International Film Festival (IVIFF) 2020, said to be “South Asia’s First Borderless Digital Film Festival” will be held from 1-9 August. “Thanha Rathi Ranga” from Sri Lanka will be screened at the event.
The event is to be hosted online, free of charge – registrations are open for all film enthusiasts on the IVIFF website.
The South Asia Forum for Art and Creative Heritage (SAFACH) is behind the IVIFF initiative and it was first thought up to create South Asia’s first travelling international film festival and this first edition of the event will be held in New Delhi and the event is set to showcase films from all South and Southeast Asian nations.
The nine days will include screening films, workshops, master classes, music concerts, and interactive sessions with film directors and actors.
About the decision to launch such an event and the importance of celebrating South and Southeast Asian cinema, IVIFF Founder and Creative Director Harsh Narayan said: “The South Asian region shares a combined cultural and historical legacy, and cinema is an important medium of expressing our continuously evolving artistic traditions. South Asian art, music, and folk traditions are interconnected, and they evolve further through communicating with each other.”
There is a selection of films that will be screened at the event – Bangladeshi films “Nolok”, “Maya the Lost Mother”, “Qasida of Dhaka” (documentary), and “Mala Bhabi”; Nepalese film “Dying Candle”; Pakistani films “Moor” and “Motorcycle Girl”; and Sri Lankan film “Thanha Rathi Ranga”.
The Sri Lankan film that will be screened at the event, Thanha Rathi Ranga, is a 2014 release. The film was now renowned Sri Lankan director Nilendra Deshapriya’s directorial debut and since then Deshapriya has gone on to become one of Sri Lanka’s most sought-after television personalities who introduced the reality TV genre to Lankan audiences, producing many successful television formats such as Super Star and also the franchised version of “Who Wants To be A Millionaire”. Deshapriya is currently involved in developing a novel concept – a performance art piece in multiple mediums under the title “9NINE”.
Thanha Rathi Ranga stars Sarath Kothalawala and Kumara Thirimadura, complete with a supporting cast of veteran artists like Swarna Mallawarachchi, Anoja Weerasinghe, Neeta Fernando, and Kamal Addararachchi.
We spoke to Kumara Thirimadura, who co-wrote the script with Sarath Kothalawala, about the significance of Sri Lankan films being featured in international film festivals such as IVIFF. He stated that it is important to create art for a global stage, and that there are no longer such limitations where you must focus on audiences and their sensibilities based on their geography.
He stated that there is a reason why films such as Thanha Rathi Ranga and even his most recent film, which received much critical acclaim, titled “Newspaper”, has been well received. He said that it is because these films speak to the heart; they are human stories and what we explore is not tied down to our country, ethnicity, or any kind of origin. They are relatable across the board. Therefore, films such as Thanha Rathi Ranga often do well with a wide array of audiences.
Thirimadura also shared that for the uninitiated, if they do follow through with this festival and if they find that his film speaks to them, then he is currently working on something that would truly inspire some thought in our society; subject matter that is not often discussed widely in our culture. He said he is currently preparing to produce two films, one which speaks to the racial disparities that exist in our communities and another about women working in these so called spas in Colombo, who allegedly resort to performing sexual favours for their clients for meager amounts of money. He stated that he is currently conducting his background research, speaking to these people he is writing about to create a grounded reality through his script.
Thirimadura said that the Sri Lankan film industry can really grow if we realise that big budgets are not what we need. He shared that finding a narrative that speaks to the heart, something that holds up a mirror to our humanity, is where success lies.
