''The Forsaken Land (Sulanga Enu Pinisa)'' ( si, සුළඟ එනු පිණිස) 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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Vimukthi Jayasundara Kala Keerthi Vimukthi Jayasundara ( si, විමුක්ති ජයසුන්දර) 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 Jay ...

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

Kaushalya Fernando Kaushalya Fernando ( si, කෞෂල්‍යා ප්‍රනාන්දු), is a Sri Lankan actress, director, producer and a civil activist. Highly versatile actress who dominated stage drama and cinema, Fernando is a five-time winner o ...

and

Mahendra Perera Mahendra Shrikantha Perera (born 17 August 1956: si, මහේන්ද්‍ර පෙරේරා), is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. One of the most influential actors in Sinhala cinema, Mahendra performed from ...

in lead roles along with Nilupuli Jayawardena and

Hemasiri Liyanage Hemasiri Dhanawatha Liyanage ( si, හේමසිරි ලියනගේ, 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'' teledr ...

. Music composed by

Nadeeka Guruge Nadeeka Guruge ( si, නදීක ගුරුගේ) is one of the most influential composers in Sri Lankan music. Biography "I grew up with the guitar and the guitar speaks at this concert" says Nadeeka on his concerts titled ''Nostal Guitar ...

. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning '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 w ...

section at the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival started on 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on 21 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Belgium, Belgian film ''L'Enfant (film), L'Enfant ...

, 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 International Critics' Week The International ...

. 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 Lanka ...

Cast

as Soma * Nilupili Jayawardena as Lata *

as Piyasiri *

Saumya Liyanage Saumya Liyanage ( si, සෞම්‍ය ලියනගේ) 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 Performing Art ...

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-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, and Stephen Wang ...

, 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: ශ්‍රී ලංකාභිමාන්‍ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter, a ...

’ maiden ''

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

'' 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