Jaffna International Cinema Festival 2016 (JAFFNAICF 2016)

For the second consecutive year the Jaffna International Cinema Festival (JAFFNAICF) 2016 is to be held from September 23 to 27 in Jaffna. JAFFNAICF 2016 is presented by Agenda 14 in collaboration with the Fine Arts Department of the University of Jaffna and the Ceylon Theatres.

The main intention of JAFFNAICF 2016 is to celebrate independent cinema in the peninsula, recovering from the destruction caused by a 30-year-old armed conflict and war. Using art to reach out to people, this festival would create a space for communities across borders to interact with each other through cinema.

"Cinema of Sri Lanka is widely known as Sinhala cinema. In the south of the island itself, in the Indian Ocean region or in international film circuits far away, Sri Lanka is known for its Sinhala language cinema. Yet there was and is a cinema of the other, in this island which is not widely known or recognized by it's own people or by the world outside.

That is Sri Lanka Tamil Cinema" speaking at the press conference, the JAFFNAICF Director, Anomaa Rajakaruna said.

The majority of the audience in the peninsula today is attracted to commercial cinema of South India and young filmmakers are making use of the new technology without proper training or exposure to world cinema.

"At a time when the country is divided by the language we speak, the faith we believe in and the political ideologies we depend, cinema could become a powerful medium of expression in the journey towards peace and reconciliation. It could create a dialogue across borders and communities. Unfortunately cinema is not used in this manner in Sri Lanka today," added Rajakaruna. This year's Jaffna International Cinema Festival's opening film will be announced soon and the closing film of this year's festival will be award winning film Visaranai by Vetri Maaran. There are six main categories of films aligned to screen at the festival and please refer the below chart for more information:

JAFFNAICF 2016 will present three awards honoring the seniors and encouraging the young generation. This includes a Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Debut Film Award and Best Short Film Award and Audience Award for the popular short film.

International critics in JAFFNAICF 2016 Juries: Alice Shih (Canada), Axel Estein (Germany), Gayatri Chatterjee (India), Juan Carlos Lemus Polanía (Colombia) Masterclasses at JAFFNAICF2016: Three Masterclasses at JAFFNAICF will be conducted by, Andrea Wenzler (Germany) on editing, Shanmuga Raja (India) on acting and Shyaman Premasundara (Sri Lanka) on sound designing. The Jaffna International Cinema Festival 2016 is a non-partisan platform to explore contemporary forms of creative expression in cinema. JAFFNAICF 2016 other partners are National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka, Jetwing - Jaffna, Andrew The Travel Company, Embassy of Germany, High Commission of Canada, High Commission Of Australia, Goethe Institut, British Council, Embassy of France, Embassy of Switzerland, Embassy of Italy, Embassy of The Netherlands, Consulate of Slovakia, Consulate of Belgium, Polish Institute New Delhi, and Royal Embassy of Denmark New Delhi.