La nuit est encore jeune :

Lankan director’s Debut film in French

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

La nuit est encore jeune (The Night is Still Young), is the first-ever French film made by a Sri Lankan film-maker. The film written and directed by Indika Udugampola, has been selected for the Singapore International Film Festival to be held from December 4 to 14.

Udugampola is a Sri Lankan film-maker who has been living in France since 2008. He started his professional career as a journalist, serving as the Sri Lankan coordinator of Radio Veritas Asia.

Indika directed his first tele-feature-series Kokila Sandwaniya (Symphony of Cuckoos) in 2003, inspired by the French novel La Symphonie Pastorale by Andre Gide. He then directed a short film series for television Rathi Virathi (Black and Black), inspired by the short stories of Italian writer, Alberto Moravia.

Indika has written and directed 14 short films and six documentaries, most of which have been selected for numerous film festivals. He also won the award for the Best Film Critic at the SIGNIS Film Festival in 2003.

In 2007 he was selected for an artist residential program on cinema offered by the Cultural section of the UNESCO organisation and accordingly awarded a scholarship at McColl Center in North Carolina, USA.

After earning a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts in Film Directing, he obtained the French Proficiency Advanced Diploma in 2013. Indika founded the Hors Cadre Image to initiate making independent films. The Night is Still Young (La nuit est encore jeune) is his first feature film.

Synopsis

Once upon a time, a fallen princess, who dreamed of becoming a classical singer, was lost in a dark forest where wolves and bears prowled. Her fear was so great that she ran as far as her legs could carry her. Suddenly she came upon a beautiful house near a mysterious graveyard.

She knocked on the door and a butcheress, struck by a curse and awaiting the love of a princess, opened the door.

The princess begged her for food and refuge. In return, the butcheress demanded her friendship in order to free herself from her curse. In desperation, the princess nodded and said, “yes” to sharing her life.

Henceforth, they made a habit of cutting meat while praying at sunrise and of humming a love song while ridding a tandem at nightfall. One day a lost knight, a trash collector by profession, came upon this treacherous kingdom and began to sound his horn.

Thus, seduction, betrayal, jealousy and intrigue intertwine in an atmosphere of barely contained madness, finally proving that fairy tales do not always have a happy ending.

The film stars Pascaline Bellegrade, Anna Lemonaki and Lakshan Abenayke. The photography of the film has done by Channa Deshapriya. Sound recording by Pierre-Emmanuel Martinet. Editing by Shailesh Macwan. Original score was composed by Nadeeka Guruge.

Scenes from the film