• Director and producer Bavaneeda Loganathan on Sri Lanka’s film industry

Sri Lankan cinema has been enjoying the global spotlight, but it could be said that the majority of these movies are in Sinhala or English language. However, a third industry exists in the country –Tamil-language cinema. Bavaneedha Loganathan is a filmmaker who is taking Sri Lankan Tamil cinema to the world, and although she refers to herself as an emerging filmmaker and film producer, Loganathan has already made significant strides in filmmaking.

One of Loganathan’s most recent achievements was at the Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF), where her animated feature film ‘Kuttu’ made it to the top three selections of the Film Haat market section at the West Meets East Screenplay Lab in Bangladesh last month.

DIFF wasn’t unfamiliar territory, as Loganathan last year took part in the West Meets East Screenplay Lab after her feature film ‘46 Mondays’ was among the top 10 projects selected. Speaking to The Daily Morning Brunch about her cinematic ambitions, Loganathan shared that her feature film was received well at DIFF in 2023. The same year, she studied film production at the Busan Asian Film School, Korea, during which she developed an animated film she had previously worked on.

This animated film, ‘Kuttu’, received a lot of praise, winning Loganathan a screenplay grant. “This animation film was my first project. Not many do animation movies in Sri Lanka. It’s a difficult task and a time consuming one. So I made a live action movie and, on the side, worked on the animation project. Both of these gained popularity, having been selected for DIFF,” she shared.

‘Kuttu’

The animation film, which is about elephants, was first pitched at the Global Media Makers programme in the US, her name having been nominated by filmmaker Sanjeewa Pushpakumara. The movie was still in its initial stages and Loganathan said she made use of the insight she gained during the programme to further develop the story. “At this point, I received a Strengthening Reconciliation Processes in Sri Lanka (SRP) grant for graphic novels. I created five stories – one being my elephant story. I did my research, travelled, and developed it well. I made this into a comic and worked on it over the years.”

Having pitched the movie at DIFF, Loganathan said she studied the audience reaction, noting what evoked excitement among them. “The mentors said this project had significant marketing potential and were enthusiastic about it being Sri Lanka’s first 2D animation.”

A magical accident

In addition to calling herself an emerging filmmaker and producer, Loganathan also refers to herself as being self-taught. Animation is something she learnt mainly from the internet, watching animation films and videos on how they were made. She learnt from her successes and failures.

When asked if there are opportunities to learn about animation in Sri Lanka, she said: “I feel there is no place for cinema as a whole in Sri Lanka. This is based on my experience. There are universities and courses, yes, – I followed a diploma at Sri Lanka Media Training Institute – but globally, cinema has developed. The industry is updated daily. We don’t have this updated knowledge or techniques. We are lagging behind.”

Going into more detail about how she studied the craft, Loganathan shared that, since she was a child, she was drawn to movies, watching many. “However, my film dream began with the German movie titled ‘Run Lola Run’. It was a magical accident, me watching it and being inspired by it. I was determined to work on international productions, and I always wanted to study abroad.”

Loganathan went on to say: “However, I come from an extremely poor family. I’m the breadwinner of my family. I watched a lot of movies and taught myself filmmaking. I couldn’t go to film school, I could neither afford it nor find the time for it, so I decided to follow various training programmes, workshops, labs, and so on, both locally and overseas. I saw these as learning opportunities.”

Her drive to learn took her to cities like London and Berlin, where she networked, conversed, and most of all, learnt from fellow filmmakers. These conversations were enriched by the movies from various countries that Loganathan had watched.

Being a female filmmaker

Inspired and determined, Loganathan began her journey in media as a television presenter and producer, before moving on to filmmaking in 2017. Her family at first were apprehensive about her decision, wanting her to earn a stable living and have a comfortable life. These fears lessened as Loganathan’s career developed and she took part in overseas programmes.

“No one from our family had gone abroad. I was the first to travel. I went to London, attended a one-to-one meeting with Angelina Jolie, and then went to Berlin. With these achievements, my family saw that I was doing something, and felt proud of me, understanding that my career was headed in a good direction. Now I have my family’s support.”

Loganathan pointed out that it could have been a different story if she had failed.

Family fears aside, Loganathan pointed out that women face a lot of discrimination in the industry, with men often being unwilling to let women occupy leadership roles. “Sri Lanka doesn’t have the mindset to accept female leaders and this applies to filmmaking. A singer or an actress is accepted, but a director or producer, such leadership roles are affected by power politics.”

Tamil society in particular is very male-dominated, she said, explaining that when she first started as a director, an assistant director refused to join her project because he said he didn’t want to work under a woman. “When I started working as a producer, a close friend said he knew of my capabilities, but that working under me would affect his future in the industry. Not just men, but in some instances, women too are against women.”

However, on a positive note, Loganathan shared that Sri Lanka was seeing an emergence of female filmmakers, especially from younger generations. Opportunity and investment would further encourage this, she said, adding that this would transform the film industry.

Tamil-language cinema

During her conversation with The Daily Morning Brunch, Loganathan shed light on Sri Lanka’s Tamil film industry, saying that while Tamil-language films are popular globally, Sri Lankan Tamil movies have no place in Sri Lanka as audiences tend to favour South Indian Tamil films. This also pushes many who want to work in the industry towards India.

“Now, there is a surge in the local Tamil movie industry, especially with short films, and there are many Tamil filmmakers who are trying to make something of our own in different regions. However, a problem that I see is that we don’t have a tradition. Sinhala cinema has generations of cinematic figures. Due to the armed conflict, we lost these generations in Tamil cinema,” Loganathan shared.

In addition to traditional perceptions of society, a lack of support from audiences, and the South Indian influence, the Sri Lankan Tamil film industry also faces an issue regarding organisation. Loganathan shared that people from different regions like Jaffna, Batticaloa, and Colombo do their own thing within the region but don’t work with each other.

“It’s a struggling industry. There are distribution issues, investment issues, regional issues, and political issues, making organisation difficult,” she said.

Loganathan added: “In Sinhala cinema, you have filmmakers like Vimukthi Jayasundara, Prasanna Vithanage, and Asoka Handagama who offer us a lot of guidance and support, but we don’t have such figures in Tamil cinema. However, due to the support of such filmmakers, I feel we have reached a place where we can establish a combined industry. I see this as a very positive approach.”

The future of cinema

Loganathan has a busy year ahead, working on an animated short film, a short documentary, and a short film. She is also focusing on other filmmakers’ projects as a producer. This includes work by independent filmmakers from South Indian, who, she said, often struggle due to the popularity of commercial cinema in the region.

She also plans on holding film screenings and knowledge sharing sessions in rural areas, hoping to give children from such areas hope, the way movies did for her despite struggles like poverty, domestic violence, and dyslexia. “Such a melodramatic life has had success, which is why I describe watching ‘Run Lola Run’ as a magical accident. It opened up my world. I was 10, but I decided to watch movies and make movies. This hope has brought me this far. Children in rural areas face so many hardships, and they need hope. It will change their lives.”

While pointing out that some of the biggest issues the industry faces are a lack of resources and funding, she said that the country’s film industry has the potential of being bigger, especially through collaborations with film industries of other countries.

She added: “This is a relay race. One person runs and hands over the baton to another. But we tend to look at it as a solo race, which we can’t do. Our island mindset needs to change. We need to network, and while I talk about the film industry, this applies across sectors. We need to be forward and open-minded, letting go of jealousy and ego.”