Asoka Handagama

Last updated

Asoka Handagama
BornDecember 1962
Sri Lanka
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • Asst. Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Years active1990s–present

Asoka Handagama (born December 1962) is a Sri Lankan filmmaker. He obtained his primary and secondary schooling in a provincial school and went on to study mathematics at the University of Kelaniya where he was awarded a first class honours degree. He obtained his MSc in Development Economics at Warwick University in 1995. He is also an Assistant Governor of the Sri Lankan Central Bank.

Contents

Theatre

Asoka Handagama's entry to filmmaking was through the theatre and television. His first theatrical effort, a play of Bhoomika (film) , was to address the seedling emerging ethnic crisis in the island. The play won the National Youth award for best direction in 1985. His second stage play Thunder, was placed second runner up in the Best Script at the 1987 State Drama Festival. When he directed his third play, Magatha, the reactions to it were controversial. The play was challenged by the judicial system of Sri Lanka. However, Magatha was shown in almost all parts of the country. The play won the Best Original Script and Best Director award at the 1989 State Drama Festival. The script was published in 2011, and won the State Literary Award for Best Drama Script.[ citation needed ] His fourth stage play was A Death at an Antique Shop, which debuted in 2021. [1]

Television series

Asoka Handagama's exercises in the field of TV art were unique. Dunhidda Addara is a clear landmark in the history of so-called tele-dramas in Sri Lanka. It won all nine main awards including the Best Script and Direction, at the OCIC awards in 1994.[ citation needed ]Diyaketa Pahana, his third TV work, added a new dimension to the traditional tele-feature series. Synthetic Sihina explored a way to have a post-modern political discussion in the form of a serious episodic tele-play. He exploited the short spell of "ceasefire" (2003–2006) observed by Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) to shoot his next tele-feature series, Take This Road in Jaffna, the Northern capital of Sri Lanka to create a dialogue on the root causes of the ongoing war. East is Calling, the tele-feature series was on the same theme set in a tsunami rehabilitation camp.

Films

Chanda Kinnarie was his debut effort in cinema. Breaking the rules of so-called realism, this film clearly indicated the formation of a cinematic language consisting of hyper-realistic images. The film won the Award for Most Promising Director at the Critics' awards in 1994. It was also awarded Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 1998 OCIC awards. Asoka Handagama is acutely aware of the social origins and implications of his work as a film and video maker.

These two acute concerns for the technical and the social in the movie making have not made it easy for him in his career. When he made his second film, Moon Hunt (1996), he used the experienced Japanese cinematographer Akira Takada because this film needed a specialist lighting camera technique, as the story of the whole film takes place at night. Handagama received criticism from his local colleagues for using a foreign cinematographer. It won 6 main awards from Sri Lanka Film Critic's Forum awarded for Best Film, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Cinematography in 2000. For some technical reasons the film did not come out to theatres in Sri Lanka.

His works started to attract independent film festival audience around the world with his movie Me Mage Sandai. Veteran Sri Lankan filmmaker Dr. Lester James Peiris named this work as the landmark film which launched the third revolution in Sri Lankan cinema. It was a bold revelation of impact of the war in rural life in the country. Novel in the form, this minimalist film travelled all around the world, was critically acclaimed at more than 50 international film festivals, and won numerous awards in Singapore, Chonju, Delhi, Houston, Bangkok and Tokyo. The film also gained critical success in Europe, and has been considered one of "the most outstanding revelations of the decade" by the prestigious French Film Review "Les Cahiers du Cinéma".

‘Flying with One Wing (2002)' was yet another courageous work by Asoka. This is the first time in this part of the world that the issue of gender politics is addressed in cinema. Having the World Premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival (2002), it was adjudged as the Best Asian Film at the Tokyo International Film Festival (2002), Audience Award for Best Film at Torino International Film Festival and many more.

Aksharaya (Letter of Fire) was considered the most controversial work and the most talked about film in his career. Banned in Sri Lanka it raised a fundamental issue of freedom of cinematic expression in Sri Lanka's Supreme Court. Exposed only to international festivals like San Sebastian, Tokyo, this banned movie in Sri Lanka found its way to the YouTube where it has been seen by more than 3 million people there.

Disturbed by the painful experience he had with the Aksharaya struggle, he then went on to make a children's movie Vidhu ( 2010). Ini-Avan is considered the most accomplished cinematic work of Asoka Handagama. Premiered at Cannes 2012 as one of the films under ACID (l'Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion-). Ini- Avan was one of the five films selected for in-depth discussions with the audience conducted by the University of Toronto at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film has been listed for many festivals including Edinburgh, Tokyo, Hamburg and many more.

Filmography

YearFilmRole
1998 Chanda Kinnari Director, writer
1996 Sanda Dadayama Director, writer
2000 Me Mage Sandai Director
2002 Thani Thatuwen Piyabanna Director, writer
2005 Aksharaya Director, writer
2010 Vidhu Director, writer
2012 Ini Avan Director, writer
2016 Let Her Cry Director, writer
2019 Asandhimitta Director, writer
2022 Alborada Director, writer

Awards and achievements

Theatre

YearAssociationCategoryNominated WorkResultRef.
1985National Youth AwardsBest Original PlayBhumika (1985)Won
1987State Drama FestivalBest Original ScriptHena (1987)First runner-up
1989Best Original PlayMagatha (1989)Won
Best DirectorWon
Best ScriptwriterWon [1]

TV Features

YearAssociationCategoryNominated WorkResultRef.
1994OCIC AwardsBest DirectorDunhinda Addara (1992)Won
Best ScriptwriterWon
2002Best DirectorSynthetic Sihina (1998)Won
Best ScriptwriterWon
2007Best Teleseries of the YearEast is Calling (2006)Won
1998Sumathi Tele AwardsBest DirectorDiya Keta Pahana (1997)Won
Best ScriptWon
Best ProductionWon
Best ActingWon
Best CinematographyWon
2004RAIGAM Tele AwardsBest DirectorTake This Road (2004)Won
Best ScriptwriterWon
2007State Television AwardsBest Teleseries of the YearEast is Calling (2006)Won

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References

  1. 1 2 "Death in an antique shop' on the Handagama stage after three decades". Silumina. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
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