A haunting vision of survival in the Khasi Hills opened the 11th Jaffna International Cinema Festival on December 30, as Meghalaya filmmaker Pradip Kurbah’s acclaimed ‘Ha Lyngkha Bneng – The Elysian Field’ screened at the Jaffna Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre.
The Khasi-language film, set in 2047, imagines a world where only six villagers remain in a remote settlement. Against this stark backdrop of depopulation and change, Kurbah explores how community bonds persist through loss, silence and shared memories.
The dystopian drama has garnered significant international recognition. At the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival, it swept three awards: the Golden St. George for Best Film and dual honours for Kurbah as Best Director. The Moscow International Film Festival followed suit, awarding it the NETPAC prize for Best Asian Film in 2025.
Sai Murali, Consul General of India in Jaffna, welcomed festival-goers and emphasised cinema’s capacity to bridge cultures. Professor Ankuran Dutta, Director of the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre at India’s High Commission in Colombo, highlighted the longstanding partnership between Indian and Sri Lankan cinema communities.
Festival Director Anoma Rajakaruna noted the substantial Indian participation this year, with over 200 submissions from India comprising the majority of entries across 17 participating nations. She thanked the Indian missions for sustaining Sri Lanka’s sole international film festival.
Kurbah responded on social media, calling the opening night “special” and observing that cinema “quietly and beautifully builds bridges” between communities.
The festival continued on December 31 with a tribute to legendary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak’s birth centenary. Professor Dutta led a masterclass before a screening of Ghatak’s 1962 masterwork ‘Subarnarekha’, a film examining displacement and human endurance.
