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Insights into Italy through films

The recently held Italian Sri Lanka film festival was one of the major cultural events which sheds light on the Italian life and culture. Being an important site, the film plays a major role not only codifying the milieu but also conveying diverse cultures. Italian films reveal, among other things, the rich Italian cultural landscape and the diaporic life of migrants from diverse lands. Excerpts of an interview with Boodee Keerthisena.

Question: What is the first Italian Sri Lankan Film Festival?

Answer: It is an international film festival, which showcases feature films from Italy and Sri Lanka along with short films from both countries with film workshops to exchange the knowledge in film making, film culture and film language. It is the first of its kind.

The Ambassador to Italy in Colombo Arpea Fabrizio Pio, wanted to have a film festival during the Italian Language week in the world.

Q: What is your involvement with the festival?

A:With that thought, the deputy head of the mission Gianluca Rubagotti asked me if it is possible to put together a film festival in Colombo. I said yes. Then he said it would be good to have a theme on migration, so that they could screen Paola Randi's "Into Paradiso" with my "Mille Soya" (Buongiorno Italia). I loved the idea started to build up the festival around "Migration".

Q: What about the workshop and competitive section of the festival?

A: One of the main things the Embassy and I agreed on was that this event would be great to help the filmmakers of Sri Lanka. The Ambassador and others were keen on giving something for the young filmmakers in the country. They thought of having a workshop with Paola Randi the filmmaker and Stefano Martina the short film festival director and I suggested it would be great to have a competitive festival and give them prizes and recognition by screening the selected films on a wide screen. So we called for entries for short films on "Migration".

Q:But there were films which were not on migration as well in the festival....

A: In this case the main theme of the festival is migration, and any film that came out of the subject comes in the non competition section, because the whole idea of the festival is to encourage the young and or short filmmakers. So the festival did not reject any themes out of the main subject, and to encourage them there is a non competitive section.

Creations

It does not mean anyone's creations are not good enough, and we thought the Jury will give about two special mentions. In the end of the festival, jury gave one mention for the out of competition section. And that was to honour and appreciated the great works done by young and short filmmakers. That's why the festival is show cased the films with great honour to the filmmaker's films that have been selected to the festival by having a competitive and non competitive section.

Q: Was it easy to collect films from short filmmakers?

A: At first there was no films coming in at all. I mean by this time there was so many facebook messages and a group specially created for the festival, but not a single film. Then I spoke to a few friends of mine and they all said not to worry they will submit at the last moment. I was worried, then I went to SLTTI and National Film Corporation classes on film studies and told the students over there to participate as well. The website and posters and Derana TV ads carried the official deadline for submitting movies for the festival was 30th September.

Deadline

Q: After that did you receive the films on time?

A:Not really, but then so many inquiries and phone calls came asking for extension of deadline of the festival. October 10 was the official deadline. Then many were still not able to finish their films and the festival gave them two more extra dates to bring them in.

Q: How did you manage to select all these films in such a short time and inform the filmmakers as well?

A: Then out of about 70 films within about six days the sorting was done. There were so many hard works and so many amazing films. So the main reason to have this festival is to encourage and in the future to grow and culturally expand.

And a few lovely films on migration were done too. With the films on migration, we could easily have two main sections like many other film festivals around the world, we manage to have a competitive section and a out of the competitive section.

Q: Was there a special jury or a group of people judging the competition?

A:Yes of course, my good friend and fellow filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara, with Paola Randi and Stefano Martina became the jury of the 1st Italian Sri Lankan Film Festival.

Q: Wasn't Vimukthi in another Jury at that time as a juror of the Abu Dhabi Film festival?

A: But I was in touch with Vimukthi, and we made sure he would see all the films before the festival. He came right on time to the festival and we were glad to have him back.

Q: How did you manage to bring all the filmmakers to Sri Lanka?

A: The Italian Embassy in Colombo was responsible for that, and many other things. We had Sri Lankan Airlines, Colombo Courtyard, Derana TV, National Film Corporation, Cine City cinema complex and my company Elephant and the Mouse as some of the sponsors.

I saw in the festival website www.islff.com and it had a section for Italian short films as well.

That was a fabulous section. Stefano Martina, a festival director and film critique from Rome presented that section on the second day. That section was also about migration. Of the four Italian short films and one of them was called the Cricket Cup. It was about the Sri Lankan community living in Naples and how they live there and how much they are dedicated for their cricket. That film has been in many festivals as well.

Response

Q: How did the young Sri Lankan filmmakers respond to the festival ?

A:'The reactions are amazing. One of the first and the best reactions are, their shooting short films with the theme "Migration". If you ever visit the Italian Sri Lankan Film Festival group in facebook, the comments that they have made are great. Some are so amazed to just to have screened their films in such a huge screen for an audience. Even for me it was an experience. Because even I have not seen any short film screened in a such a large screen to a wide audience like that in Sri Lanka. That itself has been an experience for most of the young filmmakers.

Q: Since they are calling this the first Italian Sri Lankan Film Festival, how do you think they can have such films like Mille Soya and Into Paradiso to continue this every year.

A: That should not be a problem, I mean the festival theme this year was "migration", but next year they can have the short film section from both countries as migration and the feature films under a different theme. I am sure next year Sri Lankan short filmmakers will shoot more films on "Migration" since Italy already has so many different films on Migration, the theme can be continued. I hope the Italian Embassy continues their efforts on this. They are doing a great service to a young community in Sri Lanka with such a cultural exchange.

Personally many young filmmakers came to me and said, next year we would like to be more involved in this festival and they are so greateful to the Embassy for having it this year.

Winners

Q: What can you say about the winners?

A: Randi Pavithra Kaluarachchci, a young female filmmaker won the special jury mention for her short film Sansaranya, and her short film was in the out of competition section.

Then Sumedha Jayawardena's "Route" about a man trying to go to Italy through a local agent who brings people into Italy won the 3rd prize. Winner of the 2nd price, Thisara Imbulana's La Bbe Thoile was one of the audience favourites at the festival was a smartly done film with animations and using a local folklore to express the theme on migration. Finally the grand prize winner Ciao by Ilham Hossen" with Thumindu Dodanthenna and Dasun Pathirana was a very well produced slick production. For more details you can visit our facebook group under "Italian Sri Lankan Film Festival".

Reactions

Q: Can you tell us any interesting thing you noticed in this festival?

A: Of course, it was amazing to hear the audience' reactions to the two films by Paola Randi ("Into Paradiso" with Saman Anthony, Jackson Anthony's brother), and my film (Mille Soya). They were both talking about the story of Sri Lankan community in Naples, and one through a Italian story teller's (Paola Randi's ) eyes and the other through a Sri Lankan story teller (Boodee Keerthisena's) eyes.

Q: What about the guests and the film makers

A: From Hollywood Reporter Paola Randi's directorial debut, which opened in Italian cinemas,it feels like the Labour of Love. by Natasha Senjanovic.

 

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