Interview with Asoka Handagama:

A new era dawns in local cinema industry

By Anuradha Kodagoda

Asoka Handagama, a trendsetter and godfather of contemporary Sri Lankan cinema and his unique style made him the icon for many young film-makers in the country. Recently he received an honour from France where cinema was born at the 33rd Amiens International Film Festival 2013 by winning the Golden Unicorn Award for his contribution to promote independent cinema.

With the rule of using digital projection in cinema halls now in place, it is a new era that has begun in Sri Lankan cinema, even though it's a bit late compared to other parts of the world.

The Directors Guild of Sri Lanka is planning to host an International Film Festival in the country this year and Asoka Handagama is an active member of the Directors Guild and being an iconic film-maker in Sri Lanka. In an interview with Montage Asoka Handagama speaks about the upcoming Okinawa International Film Festival and his next cinema project.

Excerpts:

Question: First of all let me congratulate you for the honour you received at the 33rd Amiens International Film Festival 2013. Let's start the discussion from that point.

Answer: Thank you for the appreciation. The Amiens Film Festival is one of the main three festivals in France and every year they give away the Golden Unicorn Award to a film-maker who has contributed to promote independent cinema in their respective countries.

Therefore, the last Golden Unicorn Award was given to me and to another three film directors from Britain, Vietnam and France. Parallel to the Awards ceremony, the whole collection of my films was screened at the festival and that was the first time that my entire collection of films was screened in another country. Most importantly that was the first time an international audience saw my debut feature film 'Channakinnari' (Moon Lady) and I was surprised to receive such a response from the audience. In a way it's quite sad to realise that 'Channakinnari' didn't get its real place or the value it deserved in cinema due to the lack of exposure we had those days.

Quality films

Unlike today those days it was quite a monopoly to exhibit at foreign film festivals and a very few privileged people got that rare opportunity to go out of the country and share their films with international audiences.

Dharmasiri Pathiraja, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Parakrama Silva, Herbert Ranjith Peiris and many others never got this opportunity, although they were high profile film-makers who made quality films with fine story lines. That was the undiscovered chapter of Sri Lankan cinema by international audiences where we could have had a fair chance to make our imprint in international cinema a long time ago.

I believe that if we are to establish our cinema industry on the international platform, it is important to give the opportunity for Sri Lankan film-makers to be represented at international film festivals without restricting it to a privileged few. This is the only avenue where we can establish our cinema on the international platform.

Q: Being a pioneer to direct a Tamil film Him Here After (Ini Avan) in Sri Lanka, do you believe it could be a true inspiration to initiate Tamil cinema in Sri Lanka as the South Indian Tamil film industry is the main source of entertainment for Sri Lankan Tamils as well.

A: Yes, that's quite challenging. The main reason not to establish Tamil cinema in Sri Lanka is the huge impact it has from the South Indian film industry. Actually Sri Lankan Tamil cinema is a victim of South Indian cinema. It is not an easy task to get rid of it and form an independent identity for Sri Lankan Tamil cinema but as a film-maker I'm quite pleased to take that initiative and open the path for Sri Lankan Tamil filmmakers to create their own identity in cinema.

Q: Since you have completed two decades of your cinematic career, what is the production that you consider as your masterpiece or is it yet to come?

A: It is yet to come. However, each and every film that I did is special for me in different ways. Each one has a different value quotient. For example, though 'Channakinnari' (Moon Lady) has many technical loopholes its content and depth are still unique. If you take 'Aksharaya' that is the film which taught me the boundaries between my imagination and my limits and it really jerked my thinking. 'Thani Thatuwen Piyabanna' (Flying with one wing) is the film which wiped out my personal life. Therefore, 'Aksharaya' and 'Thani Thatuwen Piyabanna' are the films that had the most impact and taught me lessons about life and cinema. My master piece is yet to come.

Q: By winning the Golden Unicorn Award at the 33rd Amiens International Film Festival, does it mean that it is time for you to retire? Do you think your business is over with cinema?

A: No, it is not. Usually homage is paid to a person who is no more active in the field. When receiving the award, that was the first thing that came to my mind. However, I think the best thing is yet to come and it is much to do with the maturity. With age our perceptions of life changes and it's difficult to explain. It is something that you have to experience. So if you could bring out that realisation in life as an art piece without destroying it, that'll be a powerful piece of work. For example, the world- acclaimed film-maker, Michael Haneke did his debut feature film while he was in his fifties. The maturity that he exhibited in every film was remarkable. Cinema can never die, it only matures with time.

Q: What is the most important aspect of making a film as you believe?

A: For me it is the script. The best advantage that I have in my cinematic career is I never depend on others for the script. I use cinema as a tool to express myself and my ideology. Once I write the script that means I have completed the 70 percent of the film. Only the complete script gives me the feeling that I'm ready for a film. So developing the complete script is where I struggle the most during the process of making a film.

Q: Talking about internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan films, even though those films were recognised by international film festivals most of them couldn't reach out to Sri Lankan audiences. There is huge criticism regarding this kind of film saying that they have been created to fulfil international festival agendas and none of the productions had organic understanding about our own people and their lives. What is your opinion?

A: The audience issue is quite common in the international arena as well. Those films only have the attention of international film festivals. I'm not against that trend but I too have problems with that cinematic approach. If we take world acclaimed filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Krzysztof Kieslowski or Satyajit Ray they kept the grip with the audiences and we cannot believe in a cinema that does not grip the local audience.

Q: Today we commonly see a trend in short film-making among the young generation and it seems so easy to get into the field as ever before. What is your opinion about this upcoming trend?

Technology

A: I'm quite positive. With the liberation of technology there's easy access created for the present generation to be involved in this industry. However, it doesn't mean even though you have easy access to the industry, you have ample opportunity.

Today opportunity is limited and compared to those days it is not easy to establish in any field if you are not a genius. However, I'm quite positive of upcoming trends and I see a lot of potential among young film-makers and artistes in the country. We can entertain positive thoughts about a better cinema for tomorrow if freedom of expression can be assured more by the authorities.

Q: Most of your films are based on political or social issues. Don't you like to do a love story?

A: Yes, I love to. I hope to do a love story one day. Love is something that we do deal with throughout our lives and it is something that we cannot leave out. In the mood for Love by Wong Kar-wai is one of my favorite films and I love to make something on those lines. But I'm not ready for it as yet.

Q: What cinema has brought to your life other than recognition and criticism?

A: Cinema has brought me hope to take my next breath without giving up on life. Because when I feel I have not done my best in cinema means the hope that I have towards life is diminishing. It'll be the end of my life if I lose the passion for cinema.

Facebook

Q:There is a recent post on your Facebook that you are ready for your next film and that you are on the lookout for an investor. Crowd-funding is the current trend in film making and there are many successful projects in the world which follow this method. We heard the same conversation with your upcoming project too and what's the latest situation?

A: Yes, with my Facebook post quite a positive feedback and dialogue has been created to find the best funding source for my next film. This discussion triggered an interesting discussion and many alternative avenues were proposed to find funding.

One such proposal was to go for crowd-funding. I was not that enthusiastic about the idea, because raising money to produce a movie through crowd funding is a backbreaking effort which will exhaust my physical and mental energy that is necessary to make the movie.

However, many people are confident and insist that I go for it - I have decided to do it, because if a film can at least be partly funded that way it will be a groundbreaking revelation. I have selected a relatively new platform and we will start the campaign to raise USD 50,000, this is one third of the total cost of the film.

Q: Even though you encourage young filmmakers to stick to low budget films, your recent film budget was quite high. Why not try to do a low budget film?

Film budgets

A: Compared to the commercial film budgets which are produced in the country, my film budgets are quite low. I encourage young filmmakers to do low budget films because they are the only ones who can do low budget films. When you are established in a field, everyone who is involved with it expects a certain standard which we cannot ignore.

When I stepped into the field we worked with really low budgets but now it's not possible. However, we minimize the cost by maximising efficiency. For example we completed the entire shoot of the film 'Ini Avan' in Jaffna within 10 days. There was a huge crew and we worked from early morning till late at night continuously for 10 days and the best infrastructure facilities were provided.

Q: Tell us about the International Film Festival that you are planning to host in Sri Lanka.

A: To host an international film festival in Sri Lanka was something that we discussed for a long time. As I believe it will sort out many issues and there will be a huge impact if we could host an international film festival here. People do false interpretations about cinema and international film festivals due to the lack of knowledge and exposure. To host an international film festival in Sri Lanka is vital.

Therefore, as the Directors Guild we are having discussions with Okinawa International Film Festival and they are willing to give a title sponsorship for us to host an international film festival here in Sri Lanka. Hopefully we are planning to have the first international festival this year in August. The main problem we have to do an international festival is the theatre facilities.

Even though the digital act is now activating in Sri Lanka, the digital projection facility is not yet available in cinema halls in Sri Lanka. However, we are having discussions with many Colombo based theatres and we hope it will be successful. We hope to get the involvement of young film-makers; university students and volunteers for the film festival to have an impact on the country.