''Sengadal'' (''The Dead Sea'') is a 2011 Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
-language
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
written and directed by
Leena Manimekalai
Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor. Her works include five published poetry anthologies and a dozen films in genres, documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. She has been recognised with participation, mentions ...
, who makes her directing debut and stars in the film. Produced by Janaki Sivakumar, the film features cinematography by
M. J. Radhakrishnan
M. J. Radhakrishnan (1957/1958 – 12 July 2019) was an Indian cinematographer working mainly in Malayalam films. He got National film award 2018 as best cinematographer for his work on Malayalam movie Oolu. He won Kerala State Award for Best C ...
and editing by
Sreekar Prasad
Akkineni Sreekar Prasad is an Indian film editor. He works predominantly in Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi language films. In a career spanning more than 35 years, he has edited over 600 films. He is a recipient of nine National Film Awards ...
. The film was initially banned by the regional centre of the
Censor Board
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
, but
Appellate Tribunal authorities of the board at New Delhi cleared the film in July 2011 after legal struggle.
''Sengadal'' was part of the
Indian Panorama
The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...
at the
42nd International Film Festival of India
The 42nd International Film Festival of India was held on 23 to 30 November 2011 in Goa. The International competition (Feature) was chaired by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, and Short film competition was chaired by Basu Bhattacharya. For the first time ...
after the censor board had cleared the film.
Cast
*
Shobasakthi
*
Leena Manimekalai
Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor. Her works include five published poetry anthologies and a dozen films in genres, documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. She has been recognised with participation, mentions ...
* Nimal
* Rosemarry
Plot
On the Indian mainland, across the waters, arrive the Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka, an unending stream of people dispossessed of their lands and Gods, to an uncertain future with ever receding hopes of return. Dhanushkodi, the Indo-Sri Lankan border town, is the crucible wherein History is brewing this concoction of defeated lives and exhausted dreams. Hope is a big word and resistance but a tired expression. Three decades of struggle for a nation is washed out, a race obliterated. For, there is no one fighting their war back home now. Heroic images have turned to dust. The bunkers run with the wasted blood. Smoke rises from heaps of putrid flesh. Unwanted lives rot away in barbed wire human zoos. The misery spills over to the Indian shore. Fishermen fishing in fear in ignorance of friendly and enemy waters get dumped as rebels, spies and smugglers and unceremoniously beaten to death or shot or maimed. Yet, each morning sees their boats launched once again to the sea as the sea is their motherland and the language of fish their mother tongue. Manimekalai, the filmmaker, Munusamy, the fisherman, Rosemary, the social worker in Jesuit Christian Refugee Services, try hard to retain their sanity in this mad jumble. Their interactions with the dead or living refugees, their skirmishes with the Indian and Sri Lankan States, their personal lives overrun by external events - form the kernel of this narration. Soori, a half-wit Sri Lankan Tamil, who connects to the world through his radio, stands aloof in this bleak world of despair sending lightning jolts of truth into the dark recesses of History. No wonder, he vanishes into the blue and Manimekalai is forced by the State to return to the world of civil obedience. Munusamy is killed and Rosemary turns to her God, the same God who parted the Red Sea to save his flock in their flight from annihilation.
Production
This film was a people participatory work, says director. The movie was filmed in Dhanuskodi, India which is just 18 km from Sri Lanka. When talking about the movie, the director says, the real victory of her movie would be, even if one fisherman is saved from killing of Sri Lankan navy.
Writer, director, producer Leena Manimekalai, tried gather funds via crowd sourcing for the distribution of the movie.
List of official selections
* Sengadal the DeadSea had won the GFI Production grant for 2010
* Only Tamil film to be screened at the 42nd
International Film Festival of India
The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...
.
* Official Selection, International Competition, 32nd Durban International Film Festival, August 2011
* Official Selection, First Film Competition, 35th World Montreal Film Festival, September 2011
* Official Selection, International Competition, Mumbai Film Fest, MAMI, October 2011
* NAWFF Award (Best Asian Woman Film award), Tokyo International Film Festival, November 2011
* Indian Panorama, Indian International Film Festival, Goa, December 2011
* World Cinema Official Selection, International Film Festival of Kerala, 2011
* Chithrabarathi Competition, Bangalore International Film Festival, 2011
* Official Korean Premiere, International Women Film Festival, South Korea, 2012
* Official Taiwan Premiere, International Women Film Festival, Taipei, 2012
* NAWFF Premieres at International Women Film Festivals at Israel and Beijing, 2012
* Pecheurs De Monde International Film Festival, Lorient, France, 2013
* Rare Picks at Hundred years of Indian Cinema Package, 2013
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, id=1683488 (IMDb)
2011 films
English-language Indian films
Films directed by Leena Manimekalai
2010s Tamil-language films
2011 directorial debut films
Film censorship in India
Films about the Sri Lankan Civil War
Censored films