Daringly different

Ajantha Wijewardena’s Ehema Nowunu Ehema Dennek judged best Short Film at Sri Lanka Youth Cinematic Harvest:

by Husna Inayathullah

Ajantha Wijewardena is not among, what you’d call the ‘A Listers’, in Sri Lanka’s celluloid sphere. But having won the award for the best short film at the third Sri Lanka Youth Cinematic Harvest 2013/2014, for her ground breaking 10 minute movie, Ehema Nowunu Ehema Dennek, her name is fast becoming familiar, especially among those appreciative of quality work and sensitively approached subject matter, women’s issues in this instance.

The Youth Cinematic Harvest organized by the National Youth Service Council and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, is a competition held for young film makers with exceptional talent. The award ceremony was held at the Maharagama Youth Centre

Ajantha, whose award winning short film was screened at the Goethe Institute Colombo in March, to celebrate the month of women, is a mother of two with a nearly decade-long working experience in all aspects of media.

Formerly with Young Asia Television, she has worked as a producer, script writer and a presenter in different kinds of television programs produced by Young Asia TV, including talk shows, magazine programs, documentaries and public service announcements.

Issues of substance

“Besides a TV producer, I have been working as a writer for newspaper supplements in public awareness campaigns, monitoring and evaluation projects,” she says, adding that she especially trained herself in Peace Journalism and worked in wide range of social issues including reconciliation, gender, human rights and multiculturalism.

Currently a freelance producer and short film maker, her responsibilities include researching, script development and filming on location as well as editing and use of graphics and music. “The themes I have dealt with include culture, environment, peace, human rights, co-existence, education, health, sustainable development, women’s rights and gender issue,” she says, indicating a wide spectrum of interest on issues of substance.

So what compelled her to produce a short film like Ehema Nowunu Ehema Dennek and what is the message she hopes to impart through the film?

Not another typical story

Ehema Nowunu Ehema Dennek has Sara as the chief protagonist, who is 24 years old, outgoing and single. She doesn’t view love and marriage in the old fashioned way and has radical views in a culture full of old social values which are essentially orthodox. She has undergone a very unorthodox transformation both inside and out.

Dhanuka is 32 year old, unhappily married and very sensitive. It is love at first sight for the two characters. She learns early on about the burdens and responsibilities of his marriage. Their meeting amplifies the vacuum of his existence, caused by his unhappy marriage.

He feels his existing marriage is an impediment and longs to change it, but is faced with a dilemma because of his inability to either break away from his existing bond or stop meeting Sara.

Unable to let go, Sara and Dhanuka live in their own world as one without any clashes until one day Sara tells Dhanuka she cannot imagine a life without him. Though he understands her and all her brashness and boldness, he cannot make the move she needs due to his family. Though his wife reminds him of a morbid sentimental past, the thing that draws him back to the family is his child, a little girl he is very fond of.

In just 10 minutes

“The duration of my short film is 10 minutes,” says Ajantha, explaining that she is trying to portray the relationship between the two different characters living outside the traditional way of life. “It is a very common situation in Sri Lanka today though it is not much spoken of. It would just be another typical story if I had brought in a traditional man and a woman,” she adds.

Happy that her work was recognized at the Youth Cinematic Harvest, she says her interest from small days was in arts and arts related subjects, even though she offered Science for her Advanced Levels. “This award has encouraged me to produce more short films in the future,” she says, adding that her family is really supportive and encourage her a lot. She is currently working on a documentary called ‘like ekak daamuda’ based on facebook, religion and hate speech.

A past pupil of Devi Balika, Vidyalaya, Colombo, Ajantha did a Higher Diploma in Film Direction at the Sri Lanka Television Training Institute. She also has Diplomas in Writership, and Communication and Environment Journalism, and believes all these studies have helped her in her film career.

This is reflected in the bold steps she’s made in the past few years. Another of her short films titled, ‘Transition’ was a finalist at the Italian Sri Lankan Film Festival in 2012, and she was adjudged the best Short Film Director in 2013 for ‘Millionaire’ at the Dr. Tissa Abeysekara ‘Sameepa Rupa’ Short Film Festival.