''The Forsaken Land (Sulanga Enu Pinisa)'' () is a 2005 Sri Lankan

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Vimukthi Jayasundara Kala Keerthi Vimukthi Jayasundara () is a Sri Lankan filmmaker, critic and a visual artist. Jayasundara is the first Sri Lankan to win the Caméra d'Or, in 2005. Life and career Vimukthi Jayasundara was born in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka but comes ...

and co-produced by Phillip Amril and Francisco Vilolobos. It stars

Kaushalya Fernando Kaushalya Fernando (), is a Sri Lankan actress, director, producer and civil activist. Fernando is a five-time winner of the prestigious best actress award at the State Drama festival. She is the daughter of popular theatre director late Somal ...

and

Mahendra Perera Mahendra Shrikantha Perera (born 17 August 1956: ), is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. One of the most influential actors in Sinhala cinema, Mahendra performed from drama to comedy in many blockbuster films. Persona ...

in lead roles along with Nilupuli Jayawardena and

Hemasiri Liyanage Hemasiri Dhanawatha Liyanage (, born December 25, 1942), is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater, and television. He is well known for the dramatic roles in ''Thattu Gewal'' and ''Thaththa'' teledramas and films ''Sankranthi'', ''Sthuthi Nawa ...

. Music composed by

Nadeeka Guruge Nadeeka Guruge (; born 27 September 1976) is a Sri Lankan composer, musician, and music educator. He is best known for his work in film and theatre music. Guruge has received multiple awards for his contributions to music direction and backgro ...

. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section at the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica served as jury president for the main competition. Cécile de France hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Belgian filmmakers D ...

, where it won the

Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight or Critics' Week). The prize was created in 1978 Ca ...

. It is the 1,055th Sri Lankan film in the

Sinhala cinema Sri Lankan cinema encompasses the Sri Lankan film industry. It is a fledgling industry that has struggled to find a footing since its inauguration in 1947 with '' Kadawunu Poronduwa'' produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone. Sri Lan ...

Cast

as Soma * Nilupili Jayawardena as Lata *

as Piyasiri *

Saumya Liyanage Saumya Prabath Danwatta Liyanage, popularly as Saumya Liyanage () is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. He is a senior lecturer and currently the Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies in University of the Visual and Performin ...

as Palitha * Pumudika Sapurni Peiris as Batti *

as Soldier Anura

Reception

The film received fairly positive reviews from critics. The film holds a 63% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, with an average rating of 5.8/10.

Recognition

The film was selected as the best Cine Mart project in The 2004 International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film won the award Prince Claus Film Grant at the same film festival. The film made history when it was selected to honored at the International Cannes Film Festival. It is only the second time where a Sri Lankan film has entered to the competitive section of the Cannes Film Festival, after Dr.

Lester James Peries Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාභිමාන්‍ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, ...

’ maiden ''

Rekava ''Rekava'' (Sinhala language, Sinhala for "Line of Destiny") is a 1956 film based on village life and mythical beliefs in Sri Lanka (then Dominion of Ceylon, Ceylon). It is the first Sinhala film fully shot in Ceylon and was shot outdoors in the ...

'' contest at Cannes in 1957.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forsaken Land, The 2005 films 2000s Sinhala-language films 2005 drama films Films directed by Vimukthi Jayasundara Films set in Sri Lanka (1948–present) Caméra d'Or winners Sri Lankan drama films