Filming

The shooting of the film took place in 3 phases. Jam and I built the script together, with Jam composing it and me turning the text into the Visual Language. Along with our process, we also started location scouting and looked for suitable scenary for the concept. I was watching and one day I saw a Location that we had been looking for a long time, in the background of a photo posted by a lady-friend of mine on Facebook. According to the information received about the event where the photograph was taken, Jam took a camera and left for ‘Delft Island’ that same evening. After a 90-minute boat ride from Jaffna peninsular, you will find Delphi Island. Jam went to the island and took pictures of every nuke and corner. That’s how we found the main location of the movie that we were looking for.

We planned the shooting using those photos. At the time of planning all this, neither of us had any money to produce the film apart from the strong desire to shoot the film. In the end, the friends around us supported us in this matter to the extend they can. ‘Pahura’ group of friends should be specially mentioned here. Some gave us food, utensils, even dry food. ‘CameraLK’ company gave us some accessories free of charge and also supported us financially. The support of relatives and friends and the ‘WAYO’ music band, where I worked at that time, was also readily available for the production work. ‘The Stages’ theater group represented by Jam also helped us with the production costs. With the support of close friends and other people who believed in us at that time, we left for ‘Delft Island’ in 2018 for the first filming session.

We left for that island with the basic technical tools and accessories needed for filming with a production team consisting of some of our closest friends. We as the production team, planned to fulfill at least 3 responsibilities, for this group which represented members of  different fields. There, the tasks and responsibilities we performed varied according to the needs of that moment.

The second filming session also took place in ‘Delft Island’ itself and we filmed some scenes there that could not be completed due to the mishaps that happened on the previous occasion. Then the third filming session took place in the vicinity of ‘Lankagama’, a difficult village bordering the ‘Sinharaja Rainforest’. Thus, at the time when the final filming of the film was planned for the end of 2022, Sri Lanka was at the peak of a major economic crisis and even the daily life of all of us was in a major crisis. Finally we had to sell the land owned by Jam and with that money we had to finish the filming.

The production process of this film was difficult but continuous, amid various obstacles, hardships as well as many unexpected and emotional, amazing and thrilling experiences. There are many people who have been part of this creative process; from closest friends to strangers whom we have never met in our lives. We offer our heartfelt gratitude to all those who have been part of this creative process at various times. This creation is the result of the collection of all of us.

– Prasad Aluthwattha (Alutha) 

SpaceEka Artist’s Residency

2023 April

Working Stills