Sankara

Directed by: Prasanna Jayakody

Sri Lanka / 2007 / 87 mins / 35 mm / Sinhalese with English Subtitles

Co-Presented with Indo-American Arts Council

NY PREMIERE
Ananda, a young Buddhist monk arrives at a village to restore the temple's paintings - five moral tales that embody the trap of the five senses. Later when Ananda encounters the village belle, through the light tinkle of her bangles and her hairpin left behind… he sets off on a reverie. One night, the paintings are destroyed and Ananda patiently begins his work all over again. Suffused with the tension between spiritual perfection and earthly desires, he begins to realize that he is trapped by the lure of his worldly desires and attachments.

Quietly inserted throughout the narrative are Buddhist concepts of time's insignificance and the supreme value of life, signaled through iconic shots of local flora and fauna. Jayakody continuously contrasts these peaceful images with pans of the frescoes, depicting a world of disrupted tranquility, mirroring the turmoil within the monk's psyche. The sounds of birds, the rustle of wind in the sugar cane or the gentle clink of the woman's bracelets – the film's rich soundscape evokes a whole story without words.

Copresented with Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival, which is currently accepting submissions for their festival in November.