Dear Venkiteshwaran,
Here I am sending the material that I promised you.
I hope you will respond it as soon as possible.
When you are sending a protest note, please send the copies of
it to me([log in to unmask])and to our web site
([log in to unmask]).
with best regards,
Waruna.
Emergency laws used against Pura Handa Kaluwara by Prasanna Vithanage
Sri Lankan government bans anti-war film
By Diane Sturgess
7 August 2000
Use this version to print
In a direct attack on democratic rights and freedom of artistic expression,
Sri Lanka's Peoples Alliance government has banned Pura Handa Kaluwara
(Death on a Full Moon Day), an internationally acclaimed film written and
directed by Prasanna Vithanage. The film was due to be screened on July 28
but under a directive from the Special Assignments Minister it has been
indefinitely deferred. This is the first Sri Lankan film to be banned under
the government's emergency laws, which were promulgated following its
military debacle on the Jaffna peninsula at the end of April.
Pura Handa Kaluwara, which has won broad international recognition,
including the Best Asian Actor award at last year's Singapore International
Film Festival, is a powerful drama about the impact of the 17-year war
against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on a blind
poverty-stricken Sinhala villager. The villager's son, who has been forced
to join the army because there is no work in the area, is killed in military
action. The father rejects state compensation and refuses to believe that
his son is dead.
Sarath Amunugama, the PA's Special Assignment Minister, banned Vithanage's
film on July 21. An earlier attempt to stop screenings of the film became
invalid when the Supreme Court ruled that the media censorship laws
proclaimed by the government on May 3 were unlawful. The government's
Competent Authority on Media Censorship responded to the court decision by
declaring that all media personnel had to apply “self-censorship” when
publishing “war-related” matters or face prosecution.
While this ruling applied to the National Film Corporation (NFC), strong
public demand for screenings of Vithanage's film forced the corporation to
announce that the film would be released, with the first public showing on
July 28.
On July 17, NFC chairman Thissa Abeysekara called a press conference under
the pretext of announcing the release of the film. In fact, the NFC chairman
made clear that the corporation was not prepared to defend the film if it
faced any legal or illegal attack.
Abeysekara read a letter from the Competent Authority, stating that
responsibility for any future screening of Pura Handa Kaluwara rested with
the NFC and director Prasanna Vithanage. However, the NFC chairman said that
final responsibility fell with the director.
Vithanage refused to be intimidated and insisted that the screening should
go ahead as planned on July 28.
“I will not talk about the international awards and acclamation that the
film has earned because those in responsible places are ignorant of its
value,” he told the press conference. “I will only talk about the dangers
posed to artists' freedom of self-expression. The morale of the armed forces
is not my concern when screening this film.
“What I am doing is recreating life, which I see burdened with profound
social questions in Sri Lanka, through my media. The characters and things
created in my film still remain in the villages. Should I strangle their
real yearnings reverberating inside me by not showing the film?
“Artists do not have to make films according to government demands: to
create something for peace when the government says peace is needed and
something for war when the government says war is needed.”
When journalists asked how the NFC and the government would respond to
threats of attacks on the cinema from racialist thugs, Abeysekara
equivocated: “Those who burn down billboards or engage in other obstructive
activities will be dealt with by the law of the land. In my opinion the
final decision is not in the hands of the Film Corporation, the courts or
the artist, but with the general public. If this film provokes mental pain
or unintentional anger from youth who are engaged in war, it has to be
faced. If it is felt that humanity is disgraced, there won't be any escape
for the film from the general public.”
Abeysekara claimed that Vithanage had practised “self-censorship” because he
had not presented the film to the censor board for one and a half years
after production. But in an interview with the World Socialist Web Site
after the news conference, Vithanage rejected the NFC chairman's claims.
“What he said is wrong, I did not impose any self-censorship,” Vithanage
said. “The film was made at the displeasure of the Defence Ministry and the
armed forces, and so I was aware there was a definite danger the censor
board could ban it. My aim was to obtain international focus and acclaim by
presenting the film at international film festivals and use that to overcome
the danger of it being banned for local public screenings.”
But four days after Vithanage told the press conference that he would not
accept “self-censorship”, and a week before the official premiere, the
Special Assignment Minister wrote to the NFC chairman ordering him, under
NFC statues, to defer the screening indefinitely. Amunugama's letter
declared: “I am sending this directive in view of the fact that the country
is now on a war footing.”
The PA regime, and other sections of the Sri Lankan ruling elite, fear that
Pura Handa Kaluwara, which directly challenges the racialist war against the
Tamils and exposes the role of the state bureaucracy and the Buddhist clergy
in the oppression of poor rural Sinhala villagers and youth, will impact on
their war effort. Despite ongoing attempts by the government and extreme
rightwing elements to arouse anti-Tamil racism, opposition to the war among
the Sinhala masses in the South is growing. This has created a crisis in the
armed forces with high desertion rates, poor morale and a sharp drop in
military recruitment.
The decision to ban Pura Handa Kaluwara, a film that has already been
screened in Bangladesh, Canada, France, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, the
United Arab Emirates, Britain, Australia and the US, is a serious attack on
the democratic rights of all artists and foreshadows new assaults on the
democratic rights of the Sri Lankan working class and oppressed masses. The
World Socialist Web Site calls on all filmmakers, artists, students and
workers, nationally and internationally, to oppose the government ban on
Pura Handa Kaluwara and take a stand in defence of Prasanna Vithanage's
right to present the film to Sri Lankan audiences. If the ban is not
challenged and defeated the government will attempt to censor all other
films and artistic work it considers detrimental to its rule.
Letters of protest should mailed or faxed to:
Sarath Amunugama,
Minister of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Development of North
No. 14, Fourth Floor
BOI Building
Sir Baron Jayathilake Mawatha
Colombo 01
Sri Lanka
Fax: 94-1-424109
Thissa Abeysekara
National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka
224 Bauddhaloka Mawatha
Colombo 07
Sri Lanka
Fax: 94-1-585526
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Please send copies of all statements and letters of protest to the WSWS at
[log in to unmask]
See Also:
How war has shattered the life of a Sri Lankan village
A review of Pura Handa Kaluwara (Death on a Full Moon Day), written and
directed by Prasanna Vithanage
[29 February 2000]
Media censorship in Sri Lanka ruled invalid then reimposed
[18 July 2000]
In Defense of Artistic Freedom
[WSWS Full Coverage]
Top of page
Readers: The WSWS invites your comments. Please send e-mail.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1998-2000
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
,
Here I am sending the material that I promised you.
I hope you will respond it as soon as possible.
When you are sending a protest note, please send the copies of
it to me([log in to unmask])and to our web site
([log in to unmask]).
with best regards,
Waruna.
Emergency laws used against Pura Handa Kaluwara by Prasanna Vithanage
Sri Lankan government bans anti-war film
By Diane Sturgess
7 August 2000
Use this version to print
In a direct attack on democratic rights and freedom of artistic expression,
Sri Lanka's Peoples Alliance government has banned Pura Handa Kaluwara
(Death on a Full Moon Day), an internationally acclaimed film written and
directed by Prasanna Vithanage. The film was due to be screened on July 28
but under a directive from the Special Assignments Minister it has been
indefinitely deferred. This is the first Sri Lankan film to be banned under
the government's emergency laws, which were promulgated following its
military debacle on the Jaffna peninsula at the end of April.
Pura Handa Kaluwara, which has won broad international recognition,
including the Best Asian Actor award at last year's Singapore International
Film Festival, is a powerful drama about the impact of the 17-year war
against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on a blind
poverty-stricken Sinhala villager. The villager's son, who has been forced
to join the army because there is no work in the area, is killed in military
action. The father rejects state compensation and refuses to believe that
his son is dead.
Sarath Amunugama, the PA's Special Assignment Minister, banned Vithanage's
film on July 21. An earlier attempt to stop screenings of the film became
invalid when the Supreme Court ruled that the media censorship laws
proclaimed by the government on May 3 were unlawful. The government's
Competent Authority on Media Censorship responded to the court decision by
declaring that all media personnel had to apply “self-censorship” when
publishing “war-related” matters or face prosecution.
While this ruling applied to the National Film Corporation (NFC), strong
public demand for screenings of Vithanage's film forced the corporation to
announce that the film would be released, with the first public showing on
July 28.
On July 17, NFC chairman Thissa Abeysekara called a press conference under
the pretext of announcing the release of the film. In fact, the NFC chairman
made clear that the corporation was not prepared to defend the film if it
faced any legal or illegal attack.
Abeysekara read a letter from the Competent Authority, stating that
responsibility for any future screening of Pura Handa Kaluwara rested with
the NFC and director Prasanna Vithanage. However, the NFC chairman said that
final responsibility fell with the director.
Vithanage refused to be intimidated and insisted that the screening should
go ahead as planned on July 28.
“I will not talk about the international awards and acclamation that the
film has earned because those in responsible places are ignorant of its
value,” he told the press conference. “I will only talk about the dangers
posed to artists' freedom of self-expression. The morale of the armed forces
is not my concern when screening this film.
“What I am doing is recreating life, which I see burdened with profound
social questions in Sri Lanka, through my media. The characters and things
created in my film still remain in the villages. Should I strangle their
real yearnings reverberating inside me by not showing the film?
“Artists do not have to make films according to government demands: to
create something for peace when the government says peace is needed and
something for war when the government says war is needed.”
When journalists asked how the NFC and the government would respond to
threats of attacks on the cinema from racialist thugs, Abeysekara
equivocated: “Those who burn down billboards or engage in other obstructive
activities will be dealt with by the law of the land. In my opinion the
final decision is not in the hands of the Film Corporation, the courts or
the artist, but with the general public. If this film provokes mental pain
or unintentional anger from youth who are engaged in war, it has to be
faced. If it is felt that humanity is disgraced, there won't be any escape
for the film from the general public.”
Abeysekara claimed that Vithanage had practised “self-censorship” because he
had not presented the film to the censor board for one and a half years
after production. But in an interview with the World Socialist Web Site
after the news conference, Vithanage rejected the NFC chairman's claims.
“What he said is wrong, I did not impose any self-censorship,” Vithanage
said. “The film was made at the displeasure of the Defence Ministry and the
armed forces, and so I was aware there was a definite danger the censor
board could ban it. My aim was to obtain international focus and acclaim by
presenting the film at international film festivals and use that to overcome
the danger of it being banned for local public screenings.”
But four days after Vithanage told the press conference that he would not
accept “self-censorship”, and a week before the official premiere, the
Special Assignment Minister wrote to the NFC chairman ordering him, under
NFC statues, to defer the screening indefinitely. Amunugama's letter
declared: “I am sending this directive in view of the fact that the country
is now on a war footing.”
The PA regime, and other sections of the Sri Lankan ruling elite, fear that
Pura Handa Kaluwara, which directly challenges the racialist war against the
Tamils and exposes the role of the state bureaucracy and the Buddhist clergy
in the oppression of poor rural Sinhala villagers and youth, will impact on
their war effort. Despite ongoing attempts by the government and extreme
rightwing elements to arouse anti-Tamil racism, opposition to the war among
the Sinhala masses in the South is growing. This has created a crisis in the
armed forces with high desertion rates, poor morale and a sharp drop in
military recruitment.
The decision to ban Pura Handa Kaluwara, a film that has already been
screened in Bangladesh, Canada, France, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, the
United Arab Emirates, Britain, Australia and the US, is a serious attack on
the democratic rights of all artists and foreshadows new assaults on the
democratic rights of the Sri Lankan working class and oppressed masses. The
World Socialist Web Site calls on all filmmakers, artists, students and
workers, nationally and internationally, to oppose the government ban on
Pura Handa Kaluwara and take a stand in defence of Prasanna Vithanage's
right to present the film to Sri Lankan audiences. If the ban is not
challenged and defeated the government will attempt to censor all other
films and artistic work it considers detrimental to its rule.
Letters of protest should mailed or faxed to:
Sarath Amunugama,
Minister of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Development of North
No. 14, Fourth Floor
BOI Building
Sir Baron Jayathilake Mawatha
Colombo 01
Sri Lanka
Fax: 94-1-424109
Thissa Abeysekara
National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka
224 Bauddhaloka Mawatha
Colombo 07
Sri Lanka
Fax: 94-1-585526
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Please send copies of all statements and letters of protest to the WSWS at
[log in to unmask]
See Also:
How war has shattered the life of a Sri Lankan village
A review of Pura Handa Kaluwara (Death on a Full Moon Day), written and
directed by Prasanna Vithanage
[29 February 2000]
Media censorship in Sri Lanka ruled invalid then reimposed
[18 July 2000]
In Defense of Artistic Freedom
[WSWS Full Coverage]
Top of page
Readers: The WSWS invites your comments. Please send e-mail.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1998-2000
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
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