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Sri Lankan film on aftermath of civil war screened in Cannes festival

Sri Lankan film on aftermath of civil war screened in Cannes festival

Cannes, May 26 (UNI) India has missed out from the official selection of the ongoing Cannes film festival, but neighbouring Sri Lanka, a minnow in the global film industry, has reasons to cheer.
A movie from Sri Lanka was screened in the 70th edition of the prestigious festival earlier this week, giving a much-needed fillip to independent filmmaking in the island nation.
'Demons in Paradise' directed by Jude Ratnam, is part of the special screenings category in Cannes.
Ratnam, who is of Tamil origin, looks into his own family to tell the story of what happened during the long civil war in his country.
It took him 10 years to make the 94-minute flick in Tamil.
"I was five, when my family escaped from Colombo as the conflict began," said Ratnam after the screening of 'Demons in Paradise'.
Three decades later, the first-time filmmaker follows the traces of violence left by the 26-year-long war.
"My first impression of the conflict was the words of my mother to me: Never speak Tamil, because they will come and kill you.
" The movie starts with the parents of Ratnam, and goes on to interview his uncle, who had joined one of the Tamil rebel groups during the civil war.
"I never left the country, barring one occasion when I accompanied my father as a young boy, when he went to India once," says Ratnam, who worked for six years with human rights organisations in Sri Lanka.
"The civil war is all that I have ever known," says the director, who provides an insider's view into the civil war.
The film documents the memories of many former Tamil rebels, who go on to analyse why the several rebel group members were killing each other.
'Demons in Paradise' contains conversations with Ratnam's Sinhalese neighbouring family in Colombo, who hid them in their own home to protect them from Sinhalese attackers.
"I am confident that my film will not only be relevant to Sri Lanka, but also to most of the countries grappling with the questions of the 'other', the 'outside' and the 'foreigners'," says Ratnam.
"The film is more introspective and critical of the Tamil struggle," says Ratnam.
"The actual shooting happened only for 31 days, but it took me 10 years to make the film," he adds.
The Cannes film festival this year has no entries from India, barring a student short film from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and a work-in-progress film project from Assam in the Cannes film market.
UNI XC RJ SNU 1503

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