4TH JAFFNA INTERNATIONAL CINEMA FESTIVAL 2018
LIST OF AWARD WINNERS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Vyramuthu Vamadevan
AUDIENCE AWARD FOR MOST POPULAR SHORT FILM
Wedimaniyamum Idiyan Thuwakkum by Mathisutha
BEST DEBUT FILM - NOMINATED FILMS
Andar Kahini (Self Exile) by Arnab Middya (India) Komala Rocket (An Orange Ship) by Noor Imran Mithu (Bangladesh) My Son is Gay by Lokesh Kumar (India) WINNER - Komala Rocket by Noor Imran Mithu
CITATION
The way THE director faces the challenge of putting many characters in one location is remarkable. He has crafted strong and complex characters, stitched up different stories along with the panorama of the main story line. Single location represents most of the country’s class differences, conflicts, contradictions and lifestyles. The movie gives life to three objects in it - a ship, a coffin and a dead body.
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
My Son is Gay by Lokesh Kumar (India)
BEST SHORT FILM INTERNATIONAL
NOMINATED FILMS The Beast by Miroslav Sikavica (15’/ 2016 /Croatia) Dadyaa - The Woodpeckers of Rotha by Pooja Gurung and Bibhusan Basnet (16’/2016/ Nepal-france) Alice’s Song by Barbara Cariry (14’/2016/ Brazil) WINNER: ‘Dadyaa’ – The Woodpeckers of Rotha
CITATION
We, the jury members, like when the filmmaker takes risks and tries to find new forms of expressions for the story. Two elderlies live deep in the woods, creating puppets. In their imagination, those puppets are brought to life. It’s the absence of beloved ones and the family, the cruelty of solitude and loneliness that has a deep impact on the audience. We acknowledge it’s rhythm and mystical aesthetic language.
BEST SHORT FILM - NATIONAL NOMINATED FILMS
Children of White by Dulanka N. Devendra (19’/2018/Sri Lanka) A story nobody cares about by Thisara Mangala Bandara (8’/2017/Sri Lanka) Frozen Heart by Tharindu Lokuarachchige (13’/2017/Sri Lanka) WINNER of Ceylon Theatres Award for Best National Short Film ‘Children of White’ by Dulanka N. Devendra
CITATION
‘Film is Great’ because it allows us to see and understand the other, sometimes even someone who we assume is totally different from us. This film from behind the border questions a commonly very negative portrait - the filmmaker is curious to see and understand what’s behind. We embrace the film for it’s message, as it has the courage to break down walls. Karl Marx said, art is not to imitate, but to form reality.