Background Information about ‘Letter of Fire’ and Asoka Handagama


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Background Information about ‘Letter of Fire’ and Asoka Handagama

The banning of film Aksharaya (letter of fire) in Sri Lanka and the public attacks on its director Asoka Handagama by the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka is serious and demands urgent international solidarity. As the war escalates in Sri Lanka, newspapers are banned, journalists are assassinated and abduction and disappearances occur daily. Under these dangerous and highly charged conditions that exist in the island, provocative comments like, ‘the film should be destroyed’ and that the people promoting the film ‘could be sentenced to jail for contempt to court’ - made by the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka - could provoke and legitimise physical attacks on those who defend the film.

We, his friends, are attempting to quickly gather a list of internationally known individuals in the field of films, art and literature to put their names to a statement (see attached) pledging their support for Asoka Handagama at this difficult time. This kind of international pressure, we believe, will help to stave off any further attacks on Handagama from the Sri Lankan authorities, safeguard his life and allow him to continue with his work. See Handagama speak about the general significance of the ban and the extreme chauvinist forces that oppose him. (Recorded last year)

Deborah Young from ‘Variety’ starts her review of the ‘Aksharaya’ thus: ‘A richly cinematic work exploring, among other things, a family's overly intimate ties, "A Letter of Fire" confirms Sri Lankan helmer Asoka Handagama as a truly modern Asian filmmaker. Focusing on an aristocratic family plagued by Oedipal dramas, he boldly mixes Eastern and Western traditions with TV soap opera and experimental theater…’

Lester James Peiris, veteran filmmaker and pioneer of Sri Lankan realist cinema, commenting on the film said, "Handagama's film is a serious work, powerful, disturbing (to the faint hearted), a searing attack on all our 'Sacred Cows'. Critics might find it difficult to read all the sub-texts, which are sardonic assaults on marital, sociological, cultural institutions in the narrative.... "One may like or dislike the film—that is another matter. But, surely hasn't every adult the right to see the film once passed by the Public Performance Board? If you don't like it you have the luxury of walking out of the cinema."

The film ‘flying with one wing’ brought Asoka Handagama to international fame – with some western critics labelling it a Sri Lankan version of ‘Boys Don’t Cry’. This comparison, understandable though it is - as the critics will need to categorise it through their own experience - conceals the fact that ‘flying with one wing’ was based on a true story and that the film, like the director, is deeply rooted in Sinhala society. Asoka Handagama had come under attack by powerful sections of Sinhala society for ‘flying with one wing’ and also for his earlier work ‘This is my Moon’ which penetrated the psyche of a Sinhala soldier through the relationship he has with a Tamil woman.

During the period of the Norwegian facilitated peace process in Sri Lanka, Handagama made two stunning TV drama series. These were more accessible than his edgy and stylised films and were in fact shown on Sri Lankan TV. The first series ‘Take this Road’, referred to the A9 road between the Sinhala and Tamil areas, which was opened during the peace process. This six part series creatively used the social drama form to promote real understanding between Sinhala, Tamil and Moslem people during the period of relative calm of the peace process. Even the language use in the film was completely symmetrical with Tamils actually speaking in Tamil with Sinhala subtitles and when the dialog was in Sinhala, Tamil subtitles appearing. Handagama went on tour with ‘Take this road’ showing it to groups of villagers in remote parts of the island and discussed the content with them. The second series ‘East is calling’ was set in the background of the Tsunami. The east coast of the island was hit worst by the Tsunami, and although a Tamil majority area, was also inhabited by a considerable number of Sinhalese and with many Moslems. Handagama cleverly interleaved the tantalising possibility of the common misery providing the opportunity to come to a deep understanding of one another with the negative forces from the past pulling people apart. The interplay between true Buddhist philosophy with the supremacist Sinhala Buddhist politics is brilliantly handled.

The critical importance of international support

International pressure, whether positive or negative has a great impact on Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva is no stranger to international influence. In the aftermath of the Tsunami there was much international pressure on the Sri Lankan government to sign and agreement with the Tamils (Post Tsunami Operational Mechanism – ‘PTOMS’) so that the International aid can be distributed fairly between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. This was because it was clear to the international observers that the Tamil majority north and east of the island - which proportionally suffered more from the Tsunami - was getting very much less of the international aid. After six months of international pressure (especially from Europe) the then President Chandrika Kumaratunge signed the PTOMS agreement. See Asoka Handagama speak about an award he received from the president during this period:

Astonishingly the US government proclaimed that aid collected in the USA to help the Tsunami victims couldn’t be distributed through the PTOMS, as there were legal problems due to the fact that money will go to areas controlled by the Tamil rebels! About a week later, clearly taking the cue from the US administration, Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva ruled that Sri Lanka had legal difficulties about distributing money to the areas controlled by the Tamil rebels and deemed the PTOMS agreement signed by the Sri Lankan President invalid – demolishing Tamil hopes and immensely increasing the tension between the Sinhalese and the Tamil! In this case six months of political pressure from Europe and other countries, whose people had collected large amounts of money for the Tsunami victims to ensure that the aid it distributed fairly had a successful outcome. But Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, almost single handedly overruled this – with only the ultra-hard-line Sinhalese and the US administration to support him.

The Sri Lankan censorship authority had carefully considered the film ‘Letter of Fire’ and decided to release it to be shown to adults. The Sri Lankan Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva has effectively directed the ‘Public Performance Control Board’ to change their original position. International support from well known people in the film, arts and literary fields will give a signal to the ‘Public Performance Control Board’ that they are not alone and thus give them more strength to stand firm.