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PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2003 1:53 pm 
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Taken from:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3035105.stm

Protests over Sri Lanka war film

A film which will probably never be seen in India or Sri Lanka opens in cinemas in London on Friday.

In the Name Of Buddha has courted controversy since it was premiered at the Oslo Film Festival in Norway last November.

Sri Lankan officials have reacted angrily.

The Sri Lankan High Commission in London made a formal protest to the British Board of Film Certification asking for the film to be banned.

The Sri Lankan Government argued that the film was blasphemous and factually inaccurate.

When In the Name of Buddha was first shown in Oslo, Norway was heavily criticised in the Sri Lankan press as it is mediating in the peace process between the Tamil Tigers and the government.

Some see the London release, on the Buddhist holy day of Wesak, as something more than a coincidence.

The release also comes at a delicate time in the peace process, when the Tamil tigers have suspended their participation.

Graphic violence

In the Name of Buddha tells the story of Siva, a Sri Lankan Tamil medical student who is forced to flee his home and become a refugee in Britain.

It depicts his family's experience at the hands of the Sri Lankan army and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) that was in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990.

The violence in the film is graphic and disturbing. Some critics called the film harrowing and gruesome.

It is also been accused of being one-sided and serving as propaganda for the Tamil Tigers.

The film shows the torture, extra-judicial killings and graphic scenes of rape suffered by Sri Lanka's Tamil community.

But atrocities committed by the Tamil Tigers are completely ignored.

The rebel leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran is played by an actor who gives lengthy speeches about the freedom struggle.

The sympathetic portrayal of the rebel leader outraged the Sri Lankan authorities.

Sikh anger

This is the first ever portrayal of the brutal activities of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in a motion picture.

The depiction of Indian Sikh soldiers as rapists and brutal killers who had no regard for human rights had caused anger among the Sikh community in the UK.

Some Sikhs, along with some Sinhala organisations, have vowed to stage protests against the London screenings.

The filmmakers say the film is dedicated to a peaceful Sri Lanka. They say they were working to enhance the dialogue for peace.

But critics argue that the film is aimed at exploiting the raw emotions felt by the Tamil community during the past two decades of civil war.

And they say the name of the film is deliberately provocative and it is naive and plays on the viewers' emotions.

Award winner

In the Name of Buddha is likely to be popular among the expatriate Tamil communities in the West.

It had won two awards at film festivals in the United States.

The strength of the film lies in the controversy it has created.

This effort, by a group of young Indian film makers who do not seem to have any first-hand experience of the conflict in neighbouring Sri Lanka, is seen by critics as an effort to show the gruesome reality of a people locked in a violent conflict.

For all its weaknesses, In the Name of Buddha is, nevertheless, a powerful portrayal of the brutality Sri Lanka's civil war.

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PostPosted: Mon May 19, 2003 8:31 pm 
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The film was passed for video release on 02/04/2003 by Da'sai Films International Ltd - sometimes low profile controversial movies like this get picked up by a decent DVD company – here’s hoping anyway :baaa:

Ali


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PostPosted: Mon May 19, 2003 8:36 pm 
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More background and new articles to the movie;

guardian.co.uk

redhotcurry.com :wotever:

...and limited cinema showing can be found here;

http://www.londonnet.co.uk/films/inthenameofbuddha.html (LONDON only - can’t find other listings)

Ali


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PostPosted: Tue May 20, 2003 12:22 am 
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I managed to catch ITNOB on pirate VHS (decent quality), thanks to my mate, and found the film to be rather preachy and bias on the conflict in Sri-Lanka. It was almost as bad as the depiction of Pakistani's in Border, but ITNOB has a go at practically everyone who is not Sri-Lankan Tamil, including Indians! And I have a feeling that people from the Sikh community will be really pissed off with this film as the film features a brutal rape sequence shows them, under the guises of Indian soldiers, as rapists. In fairness it can be said that atrocities has happened in Sri-Lanka from all soldiers, including Indian soldiers. The problem with the movie is that it fails to show the help that the Indian government has given for Sri-Lankan Tamil’s to claim asylum in India. An example of this was seen in scenes from the Indian-Tamil flicks Naandha (2002), and Kanathil Muthamital (2001).

The film screenplay is its weak point in that it simply has a go. Only the elements of the main character Dr. Siva seeking asylum in the UK, and looking at his suffering from the conflict makes for an interesting watch. If the film whole bases were on this then this film could have seriously been a contender for the Oscars! Despite it flaws this low budget film has excellent technical values and I particularly loved the cinematography.

Sri Lankan films have never gotten it due in World Cinema, especially from excellent Singhalese filmmakers like Lester James, who is perhaps a film-maker from the Indian subcontinent to have his films continually shown at many film festivals around the world, including Cannes. Yet they never go beyond the film festivals.

The bonus USP of this film is that this is a Sri-Lankan film from the Tamil community, a rarity as many Sri-Lankan Tamil's film technicians now work in the Indian film Industry, especially in the South. The recent hit film A.M. Ratnam's Dhool (one of Indian cinemas high grossing film of 2003) had many technicians from Sri-Lanka.

INTOB is harsher and contains a more realistic tone then the recent Sri-Lankan conflict drama Mani Ratnam's Kanathil Muthamittal but IMO it is not a better film, as the message of Kanathil Muhathamittal leaves a stronger impact on how everybody suffer from the conflicts of war, and it doesn't side with anyone...

For a more humanistic drama of the Tamil cause, I would recommend Sivan's The Terrorist. The film is slightly Anti Indian in tone (a growing debate amongst me and my friends at university), yet it doesn't point the finger.

BTW Ayngaran are bidding for the rights of ITNOB...for DVD rights -worldwide.


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