\"Vimukthi Jayasundara\" (\"Contemporary\", 2005)

Duvol All •moges stills from Sulongo Enu Piniso (The Forsaken Land), 2005 Coortesy· Unlimited lnternotionol Film Produchon, Po11s and Schrhigheim. Photos Fonny

VIMUKTHI JAYASUNDARA ZHUANG W UBIN

AT this year's Cannes Film Festival 28-yeor·old Vimukthi Joyosundoro become only the second filmmaker from Sri Lanka to compete for on award. nearly 50 years oher Rekovo by Dr Lester Jomes Peries featured in the Official Compelilion. Joyosundaro' s film Sulongo Enu Piniso (The Forsaken Land) competed in the Un Certain Regard section and received the Camera d'Or, Cannes's award for first·time filmmakers. Born in Rotnopuro, southern Sri Lanka, Joyosundoro worked in the advertising industry and wrote film reviews before studying of the Film and Television Institute of India from 1998 to 2001. Returning to Sri Lanka, he ioined the Government Film Unit and mode The Land of Silence, o block· and-white documentary about the victims of Sri Lanka's civil war. In 2001, he received o grant to continue his film studies in France of Le Fresnoy, where renowned Taiwanese director Tsoi Ming-Liong- who served os o guest lecturer to the faculty- left a lasting impression . Working with Tsoi, Joyosundoro mode Empty for Love 12002). a short film that was selected for Cinefondotion, the student category at Cannes. Sulongo Enu Piniso become o reality with grants from Fonds Sud and Prince Clous. The beautifully shot film takes place in Sri Lanka in on indefinite setting, where politics, war, love and sex exist in o suspended state of being. Painfully evocative, Sulongo Enu Piniso attempts to capture the emptiness experienced by the victims of o prolonged civil conflict, using o highly experimental visual style. Zhuong Wubin talks to Vimukthi Joyosundoro in New Delhi during the 7th Osion's.Cinefon Film Festival, the pre-eminent festival in the world for Asian cinema, where Sulongo

Enu Piniso mode its Asian premiere.

ZHUANG WUBIN : How do you define yourself os o filmmaker? VIMUKTHI jAYASUNDARA: There ore two types of filmmakers in the world

44 contemporary

One group is more aware of the ground and keen to show the reoltty of the situation They ore a lso inspired by stories of other people. The others ore more like poets Their insprrotion comes mainly f•om wrthin I betong to rhe latter. it is obvious that Su/ongo Enu Piniso is about the situation 111 Srr Lanka but I hove not set the film in o particular lime frame In foci, my lost three films ore about the side effects of the conflict. I'm more interested n the mood of cinema Images should evoke o certorn mood, and the mood should brrng feelings. Filmmoking is always emotional. it is deeply connected to my inner world ZW: So what is the role of an a rtist or o filmmaker in o country like Sri Lanka? VJ I don't think on a rtist has o special role in any country other than that of a crvilion. All over the world ortrsts hove always been doing thrngs that ore directly or indirectly affected by society. They hove always dealt w ith conflicts -either within their inner selves or ·n the external world- rhrough their art Moreover. art always exist~ within the society. lt is done for others Once you believe in art, you hove to believe rn others In Sr Lanka the term refers to everyone in particula r the Tomils, who hove suffered greatly from the war it is dangerous w hen on artist becomes on opinion leader, because he or she rish becoming o pown in the political game . Don't expect me •o give opinions on the conflict When people osk me what is behind My f·lfT' my reply rs olwoys lights ond comero· That's oil. A p rece of art invites o thousa nd interpretations. But if I were on opinion leader, I would be limiting my art too singular voice. Anyway, both Tomil Tigers and the government celebrated my win in Cannes. With Sulongo Enu Piniso I'm more mterested m discussing ond exploring the context between war ond peace, and investigating the space between the two possibilities.

LW:

In hindsight, what do you th1nk ore the experiences and influences that hove g•ven your films their characteristics?

VJ: Perhaps the only form of ort thot you con do without education is cinema . Even if you hove o diploma once you get behind the c;omero you never know what will happen in your film. The light may suddenly change, actors may do something else. You never know for sure what kind of form your film willtoke, os you ore olwoys outside of it. I'm sure filmmakers sometimes don't even know how to interpret their own films I was 2(}years-old when I went to India. Within o short space of lime I watched 500 films. Access in Sri lonko was still limited compared to India. I didn't understand many of the films - there were no subtitles. Sometimes there was no dialogue. But I watched everything from the start to the end. I was absorbing cinema. I was particularly affected by Andrei Torkovsky, not directly, but in terms of the mood of his images. it's the some for Sotyojil Ray. it was not just one particular film - it's his cinema. I hod o certain feeling for his cinema. Generally. I'm not attracted by the forms used by o filmmaker. However, if the form creates emotions, then I consider it o clever piece of filmmoking. And so, up until the age of 25. I absorbed everything. Right now, I'm only just starling to be more of o giver than o recipient. As o filmmaker, I'm like on unknown driver in o liHie cor with on invitation to come inside the world of cinema and see where I con go. I'm not sure of my destination, but I will see everything and discover along the woy.

LW·

But you seem to speak ve•y fondly of Tso• Ming·Liong os o teacher.

Vj: All my previous teachers ore only interested in teaching form. If you wont to make o fdm, write o script. And they olwoys treat students os students. Tsoi Ming·liong isn't like o teacher. At le Fresnoy he was more interested in helping me bring out my work. He didn't ask me to write o script. Instead, I drew little sketches. which he found very interesting. A storyline was developed based on our discussion and not from o script. it was loter mode into Empty for love. He was encouraging me to make films without the fo1ms and formality of cinema .

LW·

How do you work with your actors and actresses without o script?

Vj: I hove o very simple script of images, showing, for example, o character coming. eating and going . But I will not indicate whether the character is

crying. Instead. I wont my actors and actresses to work wllh the environment - the tables, lights or the atmosphere of the set. I wont them to be humble and naked to the enwonment. I don't wont them to act because acting in the professional sense is empty. They hove to find their own settings within themselves.

LW:

Having lived in France for the lost five years. ore you afraid that your films may one doy become irrelevant to Sri lonko?

Vj: How I see the world or how I work cannot be based on where I physically live. I don't mind even if the French people ask me to leave now. I con go anywhere, even to Singapore. But will I become o Singoporeon filmmaker? I don't think so. Torkovsky mode films in Italy and Sweden, but they were still Russian films. My memory of images is already in my mind I con be inspired by something in Paris but my images will not change. it's like I'm very mterested in philosophy, but if you ask me what Freud said about o certain issue, I would hove no answer. When I read, I justtoke owoy the mood and images of the text.

LW. But some critics and filmmakers present ot the 7th Osion's·Cinefon Film Festival hove commented that your film looks European and experimental. VJ: I hove my own philosophy in making films. Maybe they con soy I'm influenced by European cinema, but I watched most of them in India anyway. Maybe this will be the future form of Sri lonkon cinema. For me, I feelthot my style is very classical and not that abstract, os some people hove commented. I put up images one by one, and not two ot the some time, like some experimental filmmakers do. Maybe they ore not used to the form of my films. Who knows, alter two or three years they moy even soy thot my films ore conventional. I'm not interested in being on ethnic filmmaker - I just wont to make films. So my films con be Sri lonkon, but they ore Asian too. And I belong to the world. Others hove compared me to Thai filmmaker Apichotpong Weerosethokul but, before I mode Sulongo Enu Piniso, I hod never watched his films. So what we ore talking about ore labels that critics and journalists give to cut on artist into something small. Cinema has always been o tronsnotionol art form .

Z HUANG W UBIN IS A PHOTOGRAPHER AND WRITER BASED IN SINGAPORE

contemporary 45