[Interview ]

CindrellA:

Exploring vital areas of Sri Lankan cinema

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

Following a long silence of eight years since her début film Sulang Kirilli (Wind Bird) which won the highest scores of international awards at prestigious film festivals, Enokaa Sathyangani Keerthinanda re-enters to the landscape of Sinhala cinema with her latest cinematic adventure Cindrella.

In an interview with Montage, Enokaa expresses her views on vital areas of the film industry in Sri Lanka. She extensively deals with issues such as establishing a vibrant film culture in Sri Lanka which is a must for a flourishing film industry, capable of reaching international movie markets and carving a niche for Sri Lankan films.

Among other things, she emphasises the fact that creating a healthy demand for Sri Lankan movies in the international movie market not only opens up a source of foreign exchange but a window to address the international audience through cinema , perhaps, educating the international audience on Sri Lanka in general and the current socio-political set up in particular.

However, the Government should intervene in such a manner to foster Sri Lankan films locally and internationally, launching programme similar to those launched to promote cricket in Sri Lanka at the initial stage which led eventually, to the formation of vibrant cricket culture in Sri Lanka. Programmes of similar nature would , eventually, help establish a vibrant film culture in Sri Lanka.

Film culture

Q: One of the issues of filmmaking in Sri Lanka is that producers are hard to come by to invest in film production; perhaps, unlike in Bollywood, due to the absence of well-established film culture and lucrative and dynamic domestic market for films in Sri Lanka. How did you conceive the idea for Cindrella? How did you convince a prospective investor to finance the production of the film?

A: Before I answer the question, I would like to focus on a term you used in the question. That is film culture as we could not talk about the filmmakers and movie productions outside ‘Film culture’. I would like to explain the ‘film culture’ in this country citing a practical example. That is ‘food culture’ which is a home truth that each and every country has its own. It is the food habits and culinary practices that they promote in and out of their country. For instance, China, Japan, Taiwan and even Malaysia have their own ‘food cultures’.

Food culture

Unfortunately, we, Sri Lankans, do not have such ‘food culture’; If I ask one to name a restaurant which serves original Sri Lankan food, all of us would not be able to answer it. Except for some ‘food festivals’ being held from time to time at five star hotels, nobody can point out a restaurant which serves authentic Sri Lankan cuisine in this small geographical area.

Food is part and parcel of our lives and if there isn’t a ‘food culture’ in Sri Lanka, isn’t it a pigment of imagination to talk about a culture for ‘entertainment’ and ‘appreciation’ as they are secondary to our lives?

However, the situation in other countries are entirely different to the Sri Lankan set up. The Indian film industry which is only second to Hollywood, has been able to sell its films in the international market with a higher price tag largely due to the fact that Indian cinema has become an integral part of the masses.

Though the countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia do not have developed the film industry like that of Sri Lanka, it is an undisputable fact that they have a developed film culture unlike us.

Another example is that Sri Lanka has a developed ‘Cricket culture’ due to the immense interest which pays for cricket, not only the public but the Government too. That particular interest sets up the background for a dynamic ‘cricket culture’ at large.

Though it is clear that we have a cricket culture in Sri Lanka, in India, the ‘Cricket culture’ as well as ‘film culture’ is very much alive and the masses would line up at cinemas when a new release of Hindi or Tamil film is hits the circuit.

The Indian masses would get up and go to bed thinking about the screen heroes. The Indian artistic cinema also has a domestic and international market. Not only the commercial movies, they also consider watching artistic films in Telingu, Carnatic and Bengali cinema as an intellectual exercise.

They proudly proclaim themselves as ‘we are Indian’ as they are well aware of the fact that nation that does not recognise indigenous arts, system of values and ways of life would not be able to stand on its feet among the nations of the world. We can observe similar situations in China, Iran and in Latin American and even in African nations too. They have not built their indigenous cinema overnight. The powers that be, should pave the way for formation of an indigenous cinema. Then the masses would follow that path.

However, the tragedy is that the relevant authorities and officials seem to consider artistic films made by Sri Lankan filmmakers as their own business. Against such a backdrop, can anybody think of a brighter future for artistic or commercial Sri Lankan cinema?

Discourse on cinema

The need of the hour is to commence a discourse on cinema with the intention of creating a healthy environment, at least, for filmmakers to make their creations, besides investors to invest in the industry. We should look up to the examples in countries with vibrant film cultures.

For instance, China and Iran have highly developed film cultures. Although Chinese cinema can flourish in the local market alone ( given the fact that China is the most populous country of the world), Chinese not only encourage their cinema to address the international film festivals but also made inroads into the international movie market, thus earning substantial profits.

Chinese films

Although Mandarin is not widely spoken, Chinese films have won awards at numerous prestiges international film festivals and Chinese cinema has reached the international level. Apart from the Chinese language films produced in China, Chinese language films produced in Taiwan and Hong Kong have also become highly acclaimed movies internationally.

When we look at the history of Chinese cinema, the turning point was the Cultural Revolution that took place in the 1960s. Fifth generation of Chinese filmmakers emerged with the semi-liberalisation of Chinese economy and the introduction of market economy in the 1980s. They made creations depicting the socio-economic and cultural transformation occurred between two generations.

As the Chinese Government encouraged the free-thinking of the young filmmakers and government sponsored their productions, the revolutionary films with novel ideas and novel structures have hit the world cinema winning hearts of the masses and the respect of the critics.

Foreign exchange

Thus, Chinese cinema has captured international audiences and international market, making it as one of the main sources of foreign exchange.

Chinese cinema depicting the Chinese socio-economic setup (with positive and negative attitudes) and progressive attitudes of its people has created a positive outlook of the Chinese in the eyes of the world.

The situation in Iran is also the same. Although within the fundamental , traditional and religious constraints, Iranian filmmakers express their novel and creative ideas encapsulating them in humane life-situations. Though their creations reveal hardships they encounter and socio-political issues, they are projected through the medium of art as the aesthetic approach of free-thinkers’ humanitarian struggle.

The international audience would naturally love such novel ideas and will not consider Iranians as a backward nation.

What the cinema does is not to provoke the audience but convey the message that all the human beings are one and the same in terms of their emotions and life situations through the sensitivity and aesthetics of the medium of cinema. Cinema is based on the universal truth that human experiences are the same and go beyond geographical boundaries and barriers of race, religion, creed and cultures.

The 5th generation Chinese filmmakers rebelled against the then conventional cinema not because of political reasons but on artistic grounds. They have not only produced classical films but also passionate romances.

As in China, we also can take our cinema to the international level with the assistance of the Government. Then the future generation would be able to reap the benefits of such a move.

If we realise this fact today, we will be able to make our signature in international cinema may be tomorrow without postponing it for a day after.

Q: What are the changes you would envisage in the commercial movie market in Sri Lanka to establish a vibrant film culture such as Bollywood, Nigeria, Hollywood or Kollywood?

A: I can answer this question by citing Hong Kong cinema and Indian cinema as examples. Thousand films are being made every year in India and out of which 950 films are commercial movies. Classical movies as well as action movies and humorous movies in Hong Kong cinema have an international market and bring considerable foreign exchange to Hong Kong.

However, both counties did not achieve the present status overnight. It is not an easy task for Sri Lanka to target the mass market. As Sri Lanka’s population is about twenty million, it is not possible even to reach higher profits margins for mega productions with staggering cost of the production.

Target

To reach that target mass market, Sri Lanka will have to produce either low-budget classic movies or technically advanced high budget movies aimed at breaking into the international movie market. It is natural that investors would like to have substantial returns for their investments. Therefore, it is imperative that the Government should come into the scene and to revive the film industry offering incentives to filmmakers in the form of long-term credit facilities.

The film industry can only be revived through a programme such as the one launched to develop cricket in Sri Lanka with long-term objectives. We could gather a better harvest only if we identified the soil condition rightly and seed appropriate plants.

Q: It is a must that Sri Lanka should have a dynamic commercial movie market with an objective to create an artistic film culture. It is the commercial sector which sustains the film industry in the long run. In this context, what is the pivotal role that filmmakers can play to attract mass audience back to the cinema and to create commercial movies that are truly Sri Lankan in character?

A: Yes, you are correct. It is only through the popular cinema that target mass market can be captured. But the scenario is slightly different with regard to Iran or Latin American cinema. In Iran, the main source of foreign exchange is exporting oil and second is manufacturing carpets and third being its artistic cinema. But Chinese situation is quite different as China reaches international movie market through its artistic cinema as well as main stream (popular) movies.

Popular cinema

Generally, most of the film industries of the world are more or less dependent, in the long run, on the commercial film industry. It is due the fact that popular culture functions according to the dominant ideology of the time. Popular cinema indirectly associates with the regime in power, if not the films would not be ‘popular’.

The dominant discourse does not give priority to in-depth social, political, psychological themes. Instead the prime motive of popular cinema is to fill the viewers' mind with uncomplex ideas, providing them with entertainment. This is a part of the globalisation process.

The main argument against popular cinema is that it provides viewers with a mode of cheap entertainment and not enlightening them through aesthetics. Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock are famous filmmakers who virtually redefined the genre of popular films by providing witty humour and suspense and psychological thrillers yet did not insult the standard of maturity or the knowledge of cinema by their creations.

Therefore, we cannot define the clarity of a creation by its genre or the content which deals with the creation. Because what matters is standard on the nature of the expression.

Postmodernist theory promotes such un-complex entertainment yet it deals with sophisticated forms of novel ways and means. In postmodern cinema, a prominent position has been occupied by magical realism. For instance, this magical realism style in cinema which commenced with George Lucas’s Star Wars had developed into modern films such as Avatar. James Cameron’s latest film Avatar goes into the film history as one of the highest earning films with a turnover of 2.78 billion dollars. The postmodern theory of magical realism spearheaded by such writers as Salman Rushdie, Garcia Marquez and Franz Kafka’s has greatly influenced the narrative of Latin American films.

Dream

It is obvious that popular cinema plays a major role in world cinema. However, Sri Lanka, a country with a small film industry, reaching such heights in popular cinema is a dream. Such an industry needs state-of- the art equipment and large-scale investments as a whole.

Therefore, we have to think whether it is realistic to produce popular films for 20 million Sri Lankans and we do know even the highest grossing movie would gather only about three to four hundred thousand people. We must think twice how practical is it to make large-scale investments in popular cinema without an apparent target.

Q: The commercial films should yield a multiplicity of meanings rather than confining themselves in conveying a mere story or a romance. How would Cindrella would contribute to the creation of such a vibrant commercial movie industry in Sri Lanka?

A: I really cannot answer this question as Cindrella’s position could be determined only after it is released and the way viewers respond to it. If viewers reject a creation, then the creator’s stance on the work would be of no use.

Success

The success of a creation lies in its ability to generate multiplicity of meanings. In other words, the narrative should be such as one with a sub-text which would generate many layers of meaning. Sometimes, the sub-text may or may not generate subtle meanings. The sub-text of a creation depends on the theme of the work.

But the main factor which determines a creative work's success is its ability to generate diverse zests, symbolism and multiplicity of meanings. The works which only generate superficial meanings and zest could hardly be called ‘creations’.

Q: Glamour and high quality multi-coloured texture is part and parcel of commercial movies. Since Cindrella is a low budget production, how did you strike a balance between financial concerns and retaining techno-excellence and high quality touch in the visuals?

A: What I want to emphasis is that there is no such connection between cost of production and creative excellence.

Considering Golu Hadavatha and Ganga Addara as examples, I would like say that I have been able to produce aesthetics and creativity as depicted in Golu Hadavatha and Ganga Addara though Cindrella is a low-budget production. Using the “low – budget” as a term, I would state that Cindrella cannot be named as a “low – budget” movie since myself and the co – producer had spent approximately over Rs. 7.5 Million up to the shoot.

Therefore, I would like to name the movie as a cost cutting movie as we shot it at ten to fifteen places outside Colombo within a period of 27 days.

Creativity

With the above mentioned factors the only important factor that I need to emphasise is that the creative thinking is the most important part of a filmmaker. Besides, the technical excellence is necessary too. I do admit that I paid enough attention to technical excellence in the course of the production.

I used a latest camera with HD technology for shooting. I personally looked into the aspects of sets, backgrounds and even costume designing. With total dedication, I took every possible step to make pre-production a success.

Intervention

Since the art director of Cindrella is a newcomer, I personally overviewed the process. My hard labour of months was behind every tiny object to the main background sets of the film. During shooting, I had to obtain the services of three Set Operators from time to time.

Though it was a difficult task to overseeing other aspects of the film whilst directing it, my intervention helped me to obtain creative concepts such as maintaining colour schemes, shapes and shades throughout the creation. From the plot itself I wrote the dialogues, scenes and script of Cindrella, I am the very person who knew exactly what kind of flavour it needs. Though I let out my vision and the creative ideas at this stage as the creative person behind, I would like to hear it from the audience as the result of my intervention following the screening of Cindrella.

Q: Compared with Indian commercial movies, Sri Lankan commercial movie sector is lacking in both technical and artistic acumen. Film music and dance scenes also play a vital role in contributing to the commercial success of the films. What is obviously lacking in Sri Lankan commercial movies is that music often does not integrate well into the storyline. They are seen as deliberate additions. What is the role that music plays in the background score of Cindrella and how does it contribute to make it a comprehensive cinematic experience to the viewers?

Songs

A: I admit that song sequences and music score do play a vital role in Cindrella. For the composition of song sequences, I, therefore, obtained the services of four music directors. But the film does not contain either Bollywood or Kollywood dancing sequences which is an essential feature of popular Sinhala cinema.

I used songs in the same manner they were used in popular films such as Ganga Addara, Duhulu Malak and Aaraadana. What I seek is to highlight the fact that song sequences in Cindrella have been included in romantic scenes in such a manner to intensify the zest of the scene.

If one would raise the issue that why I have not used only music tracks instead of songs in the film, my counter argument would be that songs touch our heart and soul in a sensitive manner particularly at a time one is enveloped in love.

There are instances when we are alone, we tend to reflect on pleasant feelings and romantic ideas while meditatively listening to songs or else we would try to compare lyric’s of songs with real life scenarios or else song is being used as a mediator to express one’s love for another.

If song is so sensitive to a loving heart and if we closely associate that with our day-to-day life, why we should try to avoid it as a creator? We try to keep a song at a distance only considering the fact that it would harm the creation at hand. Though this is valid for alternative cinema, in mainstream cinema one can use song as constructive factor.

For instance, in Dr.Lester James Peries’ Rekava and Sandeshaya and Gamini Fonseka’s Parasatu Mal, the song has been used as a constructive factor in decisive scenes. The Song has been effectively used in films such as Mahagamasekara’s Thunman Handiya, Dharmasena Pathiraja’s Bambaru Evith and Darmasiri Bandaranayake’s Hansa Vilak.

All those songs had been landmark moments in Sri Lankan film music. The Song has been effectively used in Western and European cinema without causing any harm to the artistic traits of the film. Mainly, musical films are a special genre of movies and there are great examples such as My fair lady, Grease and Chariots of fire.

Music

I selected Nadeeka Guruge as the director of music for Cindrella. Though his duty is not over as yet since the film is still at the final stage of editing, we have already exchanged our ideas and views of the application of music in the film. Music director’s contribution for a film is to add a third dimension to a film.

In simple terms, background music score is not meant to be used as an ornament in silent spaces of the film or to intensify the emotions of a scene. Background music score is something which goes beyond narrow confines of that sort and can be considered as a potent language of communication since there are scenes in which music can bring out a meaning which cannot be done through dialogues or through visual.

Therefore, we consider music as a universal language. Using or not using music should be done with a music insight. I consider using total silence in some scene is a part of the application of music. In some instances pockets of silence between a music application, have been used as a part of the subject too. Therefore, playback music is something which is philosophical as well as psychological. Apt use of music is similar to adding salt to a curry. Adding more salt would make a curry unpalatable while nobody can taste a curry without salt.

Music direction

Music director and filmmaker should understand a similar language of cinema and the application of music itself does not confine to giving a character to the music score alone. A successful film is born out of such a harmonised fusion between a filmmaker and a music director and not as an individualistic or isolated effort. For instance, Dr.Lester James Peries’s Golu Hadavata and Nidhanaya are films where music has organically integrated into the narrative of the film. Satyajith Ray’s Pather Panchali and Krzysztof Kielowski’s film Blue are such films as well.

Application of music for an entire film or for certain scenes is another dimension of music direction. Though sometimes, the music for the film may be very attractive feature, it is a creative exercise to use music for dramatic situations or completely leave such scenes blank.

Such music applications can be seen in God Father and Ryan’s Daughter. There are instances where background music score has been used contradictory to the scene to elevate the meaning of the scene to another level. Moviemakers such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Martin Scorsese and Steven Soderbergh are acclaimed for using such music applications in their movies.

Sound

The filmmaker should possess a deep knowledge of sound crafting not only for music but also of constraints in editing and the use to state-of-the art sound equipment.

If not, the whole music application could be ruined as sound levels and the contrast which add to the final craft should be done with sense and maturity. Attending the sound mix, the filmmaker can decide on the intonation of already laid sound tracks and to use sound to intensify meanings and emotions in scenes as it is the final touch of the director’s craft.

The sound manager of my first film Sulang Kirilli was Kalinga Gihan, a 20 year-old youth who had just left the School after his ALs.

It was his very first professional venture as an individual technician for Sulang Kirilli. It was the time that digital technology was just introduced to Sri Lanka and earlier filmmakers had to go to India and Singapore to use the technology.

It was a novel experience for all of us and Ravindra Guruge the chairman of the production house got down an expert sound engineer from India to train them before attending to the job.

Venture

But we started our venture after that expert left the country and I personally had to oversee sound mixing together with my sound manager throughout the film to make that experience successful. Because sound management is not only a technical part but it is associated with esthetic knowledge as well.

Though I was totally ignorant of the use of new technology, my experience of watching countless movies since my childhood, subconsciously I had the sense of sound and music. That sense of appreciation helped me to make it a success with Kalinga’s dedication and his ability to appreciate music.

At the end, that 20-year -old fresher won the awards for the best sound manager at all three film festivals out of 24 awards presented to Sulang Kirilli, competing with veteran sound managers. I firmly believe that music does not confine itself to an isolate role and it integrate with the other aspects of the film and is inherently linked to the success of the film.

The filmmaker’s vision as well as the team work will contribute towards a creation with music, sound, cinematography or any other technical aspect to the final craft of the movie. Due to this fact, cinema is considered worldwide as the medium of the director unlike any other audio-visual media. Thus the medium of cinema itself is a medium of self expression.