‘Flying Fish’ comes to cinemas

Last Updated on January 20, 2023 by Desman Chathuranga

Thirteen (13) years after its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, one of the most controversial Sri Lankan films in the recent past, “Flying Fish” Director’s Cut original version will be released theatrically in Sri Lanka from 3^rd of February.  ‘Flying Fish’ was banned by Sri Lankan government after its special screening at the French Film Festival in Colombo in 2013.

Flying Fish is Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s debut film, and the film was nominated for the Tiger Awards of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Thereafter the film was invited for more than 30 international Film Festivals all around the world. In 2012 ‘Flying Fish’ was screened at the Museum of Modern Arts in New York for one week continuously. It was a rare opportunity that any Sri Lankan film has ever received. The film has won numerous international awards and nominations including the Best Director at St. Petersburg International Film Festival, the Best Asian film at Bengaluru International Film Festival, Blue Chameleon Award for the Best Film at CiniDi Film Festival in Seoul, and the Critics Choice Award at New Jersey South Asian Film Festival in USA. ‘Flying Fish’ was also nominated for the Best Asian Cinematographer Award at Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong and it is the only nomination Sri Lankan film has received ever at the Asian Film Awards.

Veteran film critic Tony Rayans once wrote ‘Flying Fish’ may be the first modernist Sri Lankan film ever made. He further said the film was Indecently Beautiful.

Flying Fish will be release as a very limited theatrical release at PVR Cinemas (One Gall Face).

Plot:

A young Sinhalese village girl, Wasana, falls in love with an army soldier, Parakkrama. Wasana becomes pregnant. The couple attempts to abort the fetus but fails.

A recently widowed Sinhalese woman lives with her 8 children in a remote village where the armed tension between government military forces and L.T.T.E. prevails.

A Tamil girl experience her first menstrual discharge period while she is in a bus on her way home after school. L.T.T.E. forces her parents to pay a ransom money not to conscript their daughter.

Cast:

Kaushalya Fernando | Gayesha Perera | Sampath Jayaweera | Nilanka Dhanayake | Rathnayaka Marasinghe   | Wasanthi Ranwala | Sanjeewa Dissanayake | Sumathy Sivamohan | Sitthy Mariam | Maura Kanchana

Crew:

Director: Sanjeewa Pushpakumara | Producers: Manohan Nanayakkara & Sanjeewa Pushpakumara |Story: Sanjeewa Pushpakumara | Script: Sanjeewa Puushpakumara & Chinthana Dharmadasa | Camera: Vishwajith Karunarathna | Editor: Ajith Ramanayake | Music : Tharindu Priyankara de Silva| Sound : Aruna Priyantha Kaluarcchi | Art : Bimal Dushmantha |Make-up: Priyantha Sirikumara