|
Other
Topics : Art
Culture - Fashion
- Tourism
Latest
& Hot Bollywood Film News : * hourly
updation
Back
to Bollywood Current News Section
| Bollywood
News - Hindi Cinema Reviews - Previews - Music Chart -
Interviews : |
Young Sri Lankan filmmakers take lead on peace
Indo-Asian News Service
Colombo, Feb 15 (IANS) Young filmmakers in Sri Lanka are making a conscious effort to highlight issues such as peace and post-tsunami recovery through their films, hoping to target opinion makers and push the stalled peace process.
Advertisement
The budding directors have made three films that examine conflict and violence within the tsunami-affected areas and underlined the role of poverty in this vicious cycle. The movies, made with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), premiered here last week.
The motive for using films to bring these burning issues into the public consciousness stemmed from the idea that balanced information and vibrant discussion of the conflict and peace related problems were critical to push the peace process in Sri Lanka.
"We believe that youth can take a lead role in promoting peace and reducing ethnic tension and conflict in Sri Lanka," USAID Mission Director Carol Becker said.
"Helping these young people to develop these films and involving the public at large... will generate discussion of the conflict and peace and foster understanding of the issues involved in a negotiated settlement," she added.
USAID has supported the National Cultural Forum (NCF) to train the aspiring filmmakers from diverse backgrounds. So far, it has groomed 75 cinematographers from tsunami-affected areas in all facets of filmmaking.
The December 2004 tsunami killed over 30,000 people in Sri Lanka and rendered thousands homeless.
The films will also be released in the three southern districts of Galle, Hambantota and Matara. NCF is exploring the possibility of similar projects in other regions of the country.
Over 60,000 people have died in a violent campaign carried on for over two decades by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighting for a separate homeland in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) programme, which was established in March 2003, aims to generate greater support for a negotiated peace settlement to end the conflict by creating awareness and increasing understanding on key issues.
|
