Burning Birds Explained

Burning Birds දැවෙන විහඟුන්
Director:	Sanjeewa Pushpakumara
Producer:	Antonin Dedet Sanjeewa Pushpakumara Renuka Balasooriya
Starring:	Anoma Janadari Samanalee Fonseka Mahendra Perera Dasun Pathirana
Music:	R. Abaji Philip David Sheppard
Cinematography:	Kalinga Deshapriya Vithanage
Editing:	Ajith Ramanayake Katharina Wartena
Studio:	Neon Production (France) Sapushpa Expressions (Sri Lanka)
Runtime:	104 minutes
Country:	Sri Lanka France Qatar The Netherlands
Language:	Sinhala

Burning Birds (දැවෙන විහඟුන්) is a 2018 Sri Lankan adult drama film written and directed by Sanjeewa Pushpakumara and co-produced by Pushpakumara and Antonin Dedet. It stars Anoma Janadari and Samanalee Fonseka with Mahendra Perera and Shyam Fernando. The music was composed by R. Abaji and Philip David Sheppard.^[1] The film was premiered in the main competition of the 21st Busan International Film Festival in 2016.

The film was released in Sri Lanka on 29 June 2018^[2] by the National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka through its Rithma circuit cinemas.^[3] The director's cut^[4] was released from 26 July 2018 to 9 August 2018 only in three theaters - Regal Colombo, Lido Borella and Skylite Malabe, under the "Adults Only" banner.^[5]

The film successfully passed 50 days in theaters.^[6] It is the 1307th Sri Lankan film in the Sinhala cinema.^[7] With many awards at Derana Film Awards 2019, the film was re-screened in few theaters for a limited engagement including Savoy Premier at 1.30 pm.^[8]

Cast

• Samanalee Fonseka as Wasana
• Anoma Janadari as Kusum
• Mahendra Perera as owner of slaughter house
• Chandani Seneviratne as Sumana
• Leonie Kotelawala as mother-in-law/grandmother
• Pubudu Chathuranga as owner of brothel
• Thissa Bandaranayaka as principal
• Shyam Fernando as paramilitary leader
• Sanjeewa Dissanayake as father
• Dasun Pathirana as Bus driver
• Dharmapriya Dias as Police inspector
• D.B. Gangodathenna as Old man at brothel
• Darshan Dharmaraj as animal slaughter

Awards and nominations

• 15th International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva (FIFDH)- (Winner) The Best Film (Grand Prix)
• 15th International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva (FIFDH)- (Winner) Youth Jury Award^[9]
• 21st Busan International Film Festival, 2016 – New Currents Competition - (Nominated) The Best Film
• 17th International Film Festival Tokyo Filmex, 2016 – (Winner) Special Jury Prize (the 2nd Prize)
• 46th International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2017 – Bright Future Competition
• 40th Gothenburg Film Festival, 2017 – Ingmar Bergman Competition -(Nominated) The Ingmar Bergman Award
• 27th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival in Milan-(Nominated)-The Best Film
• 35th Munich International Film Festival
• 32nd Cinema Jove, Valencia International Film Festival (in Competition)
• 3rd Valletta Film Festival
• 5th Lake Como Film Festival (in Competition) - Special Jury Mention (Student Jury)
• 70th Locarno Film Festival
• 14th Anonimul Film Festival (In Competition)
• Asian Film Festival Barcelona
• 13th Kazan International Film Festival, Russia
• 3rd Jafna International Cinema Festival, Sri Lanka
• 5th South Asian Film Festival in Paris - FFAST
• 3rd Asian World Film Festival in Los Angeles - (Winner) Best Actress
• 12th Jogja-Netpac International Film Festival, Indonesia (in competition)
• 16th Pune International Film Festival, India (World Cinema)
• 8th Yashwant International Film Festival, Mumbai, 2018
• 9th SAARC Film Festival (in Competition) - Best Actress & Best Editor (winners)
• Presidential Film Awards (2019),Sri Lanka - Best Film, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress
• Derana TV Film Awards (2019), Sri Lanka - Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Make-up

External links

• • Web site: Burning Birds. 12 January 2017. Iffr.com. 30 July 2017.
• Web site: Burning Birds. Festival.giff.se. 30 July 2017.
• Web site: Zhang Hanyi’s ‘Life After Life’ Wins Tokyo Filmex Top Prize. Mark. Schilling. 26 November 2016. Variety. 30 July 2017.
• Web site: Burning Birds. Dohafilminstitute.com. 30 July 2017.
• Web site: 'Burning Birds': Busan Review. Screendaily.com. 30 July 2017.
• Web site: Film Burning Birds - Neon Production. Neoncinema.com. 30 July 2017.
• Web site: 'Burning Birds' ('Davena Vihagun'): Film Review. Hollywoodreporter.com. 30 July 2017.
• සම්මානනීය දැවෙන විහඟුන් අධ්‍යක්ෂ සංජීව පුෂ්පකුමාර
• දැවෙන විහඟුන් ළඟදී පියඹයි
• වැන්දඹු මවකගේ ජීවන අරගලය
• සංක්‍රාන්තික මොහොත සහ දැවෙන විහඟුන් ..

Notes and References

1. Web site: Submission for the 2017 BIFF is now opened. Biff.kr. 30 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170730202338/http://www.biff.kr/eng/html/program/prog_view.asp?idx=23352&c_idx=287&sp_idx=&QueryStep=2. 30 July 2017. dead.
   - Web site: Dewena Wihagun - Burning Birds. National Film Corporation. 30 July 2017.
   - Web site: Human rights film festival - winners. 21 March 2017. Euronews. 30 July 2017.
   - Web site: ‘Burning Birds’ wins best film in Geneva. Sunday Times. Sri Lanka. 30 July 2017.
2. Web site: Davena Vihagun flying tomorrow . Sarasaviya . 6 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180705210746/http://sarasaviya.lk/2018/06/28/?fn=sa1806284 . 5 July 2018 . dead .
3. News: ‘Burning Birds’ in the air . Sunday Times. 1 July 2018.
4. News: ‘Davena Vihagun’ Director’s cut now on . Sunday Times . 6 September 2018.
5. Web site: ‘Burning Birds’ director's ut . Facebook. 28 July 2018.
6. News: ‘Burning birds’ passes 50 days . Sunday Times . 6 September 2018.
7. Web site: Sri Lanka Cinema History . National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka . 7 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160823000528/http://www.nfc.gov.lk/films-history.php . 23 August 2016 . dead .
8. News: Burning Birds’ back in theatres. Sunday Times . 7 October 2018.
9. Web site: FIFDH Award මූන් ලයිට් සමඟ දැවෙන විහඟුන් තරඟයට . Sarasaviya . 11 March 2017.