DIRECTORS' STATEMENT

 

INITIAL REASONING BEHIND THE MAKING OF THE WIND BENEATH US AS MY FIRST FEATURE FILM WAS THAT I HAD REACHED A MOMENT IN MY LIFE IN WHICH I WANTED TO STEP OUT FROM MAKING SHORT FILMS. AND TRY TO CREATE A NARRATIVE FULL LENGTH FEATURE FILM. I HAD MADE FIVE SHORT FILMS ALREADY AS AN AMATEUR FILM MAKER, AND GRADUALLY SEEDS OF A FEATURE FILM GREW ITS ROOTS UNTIL A BASIC FORMATION OF WHAT THE FILM WILL ENTAIL HAD FORMED.

 

IT HAD ALWAYS FASCINATED ME. THE BOND BETWEEN CHILDREN AND THEIR PETS. AND WAS CERTAIN THIS WAS THE SUBJECT THAT I WANTED TO FOCUS IN MY FILM. ON A PERSONAL LEVEL. I MYSELF HAD A PET COW WHICH I NAMED RATTHI (MEANING RED IN OLD SIN-HALESE). A MAJESTIC RED COW. I HOLD MANY FOND MEMORIES WITH RATTHI. LEADING HER ON WALKS AROUND THE FARM LAND NEAR MY HOME. RIDING ON TOP OF HER TO AND FRO FROM THE RIVERS PLACED HIGH UP THE MOUNTAINS. A DEFINING MOMENT AS A CHILD FOR ME WAS WHEN RATTHI BECAME MISSING. NO ONE KNEW WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER BUT THERE WERE REPORTS OF CATTLE THIEVES ROAMING IN THE AREA FORA NUMBER OF DAYS.

 

THE IDEA BEHIND FOCUSING ON DOMESTICATED CARAVAN CATTLE OCCURRED TO ME. WHEN I WAS FILMING A SHORT FILM IN UPCOUN-TRY IN THE RURAL AREA OF RIVERSTON RAIN FOREST(ALSO THE LOCATION OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE FILM). I STUMBLED UPON HERDERS WALKING ALONG WITH THEIR WORKER BULLS LUMBERED WITH THE PRODUCTS WHICH THEY WERE EITHER BRINGING BACK TO THEIR VILLAGE OR WERE TAKING OUT TO SELL. I IMMEDIATELY STRUCK UP A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HERDERS AND THROUGH-OUT THE YEARS WOULD VISIT THEM AND FIND OUT ALL I COULD ABOUT THEIR LIVES.

 

SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION ALSO PLAYS A FACTOR IN THE FILM. BUDDHISM IS THE MAJORITY FOLLOWED FAITH WITHIN SRI LANKA. AND WITH ITS TEACHINGS OF REINCARNATION AND PAST LIVES. THERE ARE SCENES THAT DEPICTS THE PAYERS AND CHANTS OFFERED BY THE FAMILY AFTER THE BULL GOES MISSING. FEARING HIM DEAD, THE FAMILY, ASK THE UNIVERSE AND ITS GODS TO LET HIM COME BACK IN THE NEXT LIFE AS A HUMAN SO THAT HE MAY BE ABLE TO REACH NIRVANA. THIS SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT AND LOVED THE BULL WAS TO THIS FAMILY AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE CHILDREN KASUN AND VIHANGA, WHO REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THEIR BELOVED BULL IS DEAD AND SETS OUT TO BRING HIM BACK.

 

ALL THE MAIN CHARACTERS FEATURED IN THE FILM AND THE TRIALS AND HARDSHIPS THEY FACE ARE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE. FROM THE FARMERS IN RIVERSTON TO THE LABORERS IN COLOMBO WHO WORK JUST SO THEY CAN AFFORD TO INDULGE IN HEROIN. THE STREET SAVVY GIRL FROM INNER CITY COLOMBO, NIHANSA. IS YOUR AVERAGE GIRL LIVING IN THE SLUMS OF COLOMBO. FEARLESS AND INQUISITIVE.

 

AS AN INDEPENDENT FILM PRODUCTION, I COULD SHOT THE FILM IN A VERY TIGHT & SHORT TIME SCHEDULE IN ABOUT 16 DAYS BY USING SOME SPECIAL GUERRILLA FILM TECHNIQUES. WHAT I HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH THIS FILM IS TO SET A PRECEDENT ON INDEPENDENT FILM MAKING IN THE SOUTH ASIAN CONTINENT. AND TO FINALLY ACHIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE WITH A BUDGET SUCH AS THE ONE USED TO MAKE THIS FEATURE. THIS IS NOT ONLY A DREAM REALIZED. BUT A CREDIT TO MY CREW WHO MADE THE WIND BENEATH US POSSIBLE.