Beware,'flying fish' may sting!

Some time in July 2013 an ITN reporter who was himself  under investigation for alleged criminal activities ran a scathing attack on myself personally and a movie I produced - viz:” Flying Fish “ and also on the Director of the movie Mr. Sanjeewa Pushpakumara.   The subject dominated the newspapers  and that particular TV station news for several weeks and then disappeared without a trace.  To date the CID has been involved in investigating the film and the various allegations I presume, and the authorities have been silent on the matter and no charges  have been framed to-date and apparently  there are no issues.  I felt it was appropriate for me to keep quiet until the frenzy of bloodletting concluded before I stepped up to speak.  I feel now , that there is some distance between those events  it may be opportune for me to record  my side of the story for the more discerning public. 

To paraphrase the preface to the book  “Film, Faith and Cultural Conflicts the case of Martin Scoresese and The Last Temptation of Christ” by Robin Riley, this article is linked to a rather simple proposition and human nature and behavior.  We all blame someone at some time for something which  we are unwilling to take responsibility.  We will readily place blame on those who threaten our ideas and beliefs. We conveniently label them with tags, such as liberal and fundamentalists. On these victims we place our feelings  and shortcomings thereby alleviating our anxieties and renewing  our sense of purpose.  Scapegoating enables us to transfer our failures to others and continue living  guilt free.  

Let me record how the film “Flying Fish” came about.  I have been fascinated with films since my youth but unfortunately my career took me in a different direction towards commerce.  With the advent of new digital technologies into the cinema, I felt it would be appropriate to use the that technology as a means  for my entry to the industry. Since about 2005 I have been having discussions with fringe players in the industry regarding the future of the cinema.  I recall very vividly an early discussion I had with Mr. Tissa Abeysekera the respected film Director and script writer at his home seated on a spiral staircase..  At about the same time I was introduced to a young lady named Suranga Ranawaka who went on to become a Sinhala Film Star who herself had ambitions in directing movies  rather than merely starring in them. She in turn introduced me to many others in the industry. After the film “The Road from Elephant Pass” in which she starred was released, one day she introduced me to a young man named Sanjeewa Pushpakumara who had an idea for a movie treatment of the impact of the war on people living in a border village. I read the synopsis which I liked and asked them  the cost of getting a treatment of the film that could be viewed. So that I could assess the merits of both the artistes and the concept more fully.   They indicated a relatively low figure of Rs 2.5 million. Other than the treatment of the war, there were other issues in the synopsis that I was interested in. It dealt with issues of war between the sexes or sexual politics, a subject I had been interested in since I read Susan Brownmiller’s  seminal book on the subject of Woman’s Liberation   viz: ” Man, Woman and Rape”.  In further discussions with the Director and his planned use of symbolism on film , I recognized the depth of the subject matter and his degree of sensitivity to the issues of the movie.

I found Mr. Sanjeewa Pushpakumara to be somewhat in-articulate, however both  passionate and sincere, a boy from a poor village in Kantalai who had raised himself by his bootstraps.  As a person who respects education as a true means of social mobility in developing countries such as Sri Lanka, I was inclined to assist him to make his dream a reality. 

After a process of formalizing the arrangements, I released the funds to the Director who went on to make the film keeping it well within the budget.  In due course I saw the first cut of the assembled film that was done by Mr. Ravindra Guruge.  Viewing the first cut, I realized it was important due to the subject matter. I also realized that it was unlikely to be approved by the censors for viewing by the Sri Lankan audiences, particularly due to its violent ending and as it included a very passionate and erotic scene of an Army soldier having sex with his girlfriend, a Sinhala village girl. My instructions to Ravindra and Pushpakumara on viewing the film was to delete at least 20 minutes of the film and to conclude the film which had 3 independent story lines each climaxing in violence, so that the film concludes in a crescendo of violence.  I advised both the Editor and the Director to go back and have another look at the film Francis Ford Copola’s  “The GodFather”  which I have long admired.

 Despite my concerns of the sexual contents of the movie, I did not request the Director to delete such content, although at that point as a fairly large corporate, we  may  have to dis-associate ourselves with the movie, I did not request the Director to remove such elements, as I did not feel that I had a right to do so despite controlling the intellectual property of the movie. This comes from my core beliefs about the innate rights of individuals. I did not see myself nor my company as the true owners of the film. I believed the true moral owner of this film was Mr. Sanjeewa Pushpakumara, who the French Film School would call the “Auteur” or the Author or the Creative Force.  This has been a principle that I have strictly followed in all the films I have financed.  The complete treatment was then forwarded to the  Rotterdam Film Festival  linked to Hubert Bals Foundation with an application for a Grant for Post Production and completion.  The movie received a Grant of  approximately USD 25,000/- for its completion and was invited to be exhibited at the Rotterdam Film Festival in the competition category. The film was premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival in February 2011  and the observers have indicated to me that on each of the six days of screening of the film, the audience burst into spontaneous cheers, which I believe was rather more for the violent climax of the movie in which the young girl confronts the Army soldier. It may be somewhat accurate to say that I sponsored the film for that last scene.

 The film then went onto achieve a list of triumphant screenings at over 30 countries winning several awards . These included being invited to the New York Museum of Modern Art for a one week exhibition. The movie won the top award at the Korean Film Festival  and the Netpak Award at the Bengalaru Film Festival.  Mr.Sanjeewa Pushpakumara the Director won the Best Director Award for this film at St. Petersburg Film Festival in Russia. The film was also exhibited in London  and was invited by the Australian Cinematheque  to be exhibited in Australia together with Vimukti Jayasundera’s  “Sulanga Enu Pinisa” (The Forsaken Land)  another film about the civil war which I believe has been misunderstood by the local audiences. Of course despite all these accolades, the circle would not be complete unless “The Prophet is honoured in His own Country” so when the French Embassy requested us for a copy of the movie to be shown  at the Film Festival organized by the Embassy, we co-operated but we did caution the Embassy that the subject matter of the movie is controversial and as such they should obtain censor board approval before the screening . I believe they  followed our advice prudently and obtained censor board approval for a single screening of the film for invited audience only.  The Film Festival opened with the screening of the film . The film I believe shocked the audiences  due to its frank depiction of the impact of the war. Although some have claimed that the film is anti-Sri Lankan Army, it is not. In fact it is quite the opposite. It is very anti-Tigers, depicting them as monsters brainwashing children with propaganda, and recruiting child soldiers and massacring the poor innocent Tamil families caught on the fringe of the conflict.  

Why do I believe that “Flying Fish” is important ?  I believe that Flying Fish is important as the Country has gone through several  decades of violent conflict where we have observed the fruits of such conflict and the terrible price all of us have had to pay directly or indirectly.  Getting young persons like Pushpakumara who had been damaged by his life experiences  to articulate  their  anguish, agony and grief is important not only to them as catharsisbut also as a form of  social or collective catharsis  but also to us the audience. To quote “ if someone does not stand in the darkness he will not be able to see the light ” dialog of the Saviour 34 quoted from “The Lost Sayings of Jesus”  “Teachings from Ancient Gnostic  and Islamic Sources” by Andrew Philip Smith” . 

The initial burst of outrage from the television stations  accused the movie  of depicting the Sri Lankan Army raping Tamil girls and accused me of being an Agent of the Tamil Diaspora  who were the true financiers of this movie.  This makes me wonder what movie the journalist  watched. Certainly it could not have been the movie that was made by me. Those who are familiar with  the Rosharch test will be aware that  individual who view images project their own internal desires and aspirations and see what they wish to see in the image. It is my humble opinion that those individuals who saw the Army soldiers raping Tamil girls are deeply disturbed  

I have not pursued seen Flying Fish  as a profit making opportunity.  When the film was completed we essentially shelved it for 2 years  and did not seek censor board approval to distribute the film . However,  I am very proud of this movie.  The initial bloodletting was followed by a series of  comments by various parties . First the Chairman of the State Film Corporation whom I have met and believe is largely a decent human being made a statement “that we cannot allow art for art sake”  I cannot understand this statement. But I guess he must  felt he must make some sort of gesture of support to put him clearly on the side of the critics of the movie . Remember, Peter the Disciples  denied Christ on the eve of  his crucificston. So this is nothing new. In any event I do not believe the State Film Corporation  exists  to allow or not allow art. Their function is solely to promote cinema and implement the Film Corporation Act within the spirit of the legislator who approved that particular legislation.  This was followed by an Editorial in the Daily News where  the Editor further politized the issue,  denouncing the movie for showing Sri Lankan Army engaged  in debauchery, which makes me believe he has never seen the film. If the Editor of the Daily News wishes us to believe that soldiers do not  have sex, all he has to do is to visit the sacred city of Anuradhapura where all Army soldiers returning home spend a few days recreating but not necessarily resting. This is rather a well known phenomenon of soldiers behavior whether Sri Lankan soldiers engaged in a civil war in Sri Lanka or the American soldiers  during the Vietnam war. Subsequently, Mr. Lakshman Hulugalle the Director General of the Media Centre for National Security  made statements indicating that the film has used images of Army Uniforms and guns without permission. On the contrary, I have provided him letters from his Ministry giving  approval to the film makers for the use of such uniforms and weapons.  I have written to the Director General with evidence of such approval..  However, all of this free propaganda on behalf of the movie appears to have created an underground demand for the movie, so much so, that a titillating sex content has been uploaded for UTube probably being viewed with great interest by lusty teenagers and on the Face Book. 

I have also been informed by the State Film Corporation that this film has been banned and should not be shown to overseas audiences. I am puzzled as to under what legislation the Sri Lankan Government could  prevent the movie not being shown as it is outside their jurisdiction.  However being a prudent person living in Sri Lanka under the jurisdiction of the  State . I do not wish to test the waters. I have also heard the term “being banned” in relation to the film. But in my  lexicon it is a great honour for any individual to claim that any their activities  has been banned  . Because those who are banned are generally individuals  and ideas who are fighting on the right side of history. To quote Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones” Time is on my side”.