Chathura’s debut film competes at Goa Short Film Festival
Young filmmaker Chathura Vimarsha Fernando’s award winning debut short film ‘One Blood’ has been selected for the competition section of the 7th Goa Short Film Festival in India.
In August this year, film’s main actor Shyam Fernando won the best actor award at Hollywood Venus Awards short film festival at Istanbul in Turkey.
Written and directed by Chathura, the short film is played by Shyam Fernando, Charindra Chandrasena and Chaviru Perera. Every year Goa Short Film festival is organized in October-November, but this year because of the Covid-19pandemic, the festival is rescheduled. The festival organisers are yet to announce the venue and dates..
“Due to the pandemic, Goa State government is not giving permission for social and cultural gathering and any public event, if we organise the festival this year in Goa, filmmakers coming from outside the states have to be quarantined for a few days. So for the convenience of the filmmakers the organizing committee has decided to organise this year festival edition in Maharashtra State’s second largest city of Pune,” the organisers informed the participants.
Revolving around a lawyer father and his son who are holding ideologically opposing views, the film depicts how at an unexpected moment the duo clash and this leads to a tragic end.
Story opens with son the son as child walking on the beach with his father and they are speaking about the future. While the father describes his plans for the son’s future, the son starts narrating about a nightmare he had experienced the previous night. The son says in his dream he saw a small serpent which ate a big one. The scene changes to a conflict between the son and the father. The father wants his son to be the mirror of his own, but the son wants to be independent and be on his own. The son, a budding lawyer himself challenges his father, a senior in the profession, in a court case relating to squatters who faced injustice with an attack by the police. The father represents the authorities and he wants his son to get out of the case.
In the middle of the argument, both father and son burst out with bottled up memories relating to their relationship and specially those connected to the mother in the family. The son accuses the father with regard to his abandonment of his mother and the father retorts and accuses the mother of various weaknesses. The argument gets worst and goes out of control as the old bitter memories outpoured hurt each other. Losing selfcontrol, the father attacks his son with a bottle and this leads to a situation where both the father and the son are forced to suffer physically, psychologically and emotionally for the rest of their lives.
Behind the screen, Sachith Buddhika Manamperi and Vimukthi Solanga Arachchi handle cinematography, editing and colouring, production designer is Kasun Rajeewa and sound designing and foley by Thanushka Sanjaya.
Makeup by Lakshika Sankalpa Jayakody, assistant director is Malindu Kavinda Kumarasinghe, production manager-Sashika Anushan Munasinghe, 2nd Assitant directors are Tishan Sandaruwan Dewanarayana and Chamidu Munasinghe, gaffer Shirly Shiron and production supervisor Prabhath Agampodi.To the music direction of Hansa Fernando, vocal rendition for the theme song is by Dinalie Liyanage.
‘One Blood’ was selected for several international film festivals including the Liftoff London Film Festival in 2019 and the film reached one of the final 50 films out of more than 1000 films.
Hailing from Negombo, Chathura, a student of Loyola College at Kattuwa inNegombo is an Image Art BA honours graduate from Kelaniya University. Former consultant lecturer at the National Innovation Centre of the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM), Chathura at present works as aTemporary Lecturer at Department of Fine Arts in the University of Kelaniya.