‘Treacling Down’ wins in Colombo, shows in Delhi

25 August 2005

‘Treacling Down’, a new documentary film by Sri Lankan film-maker Upali Gamlath, recently won the top prize at the first national festival and competition of short films in Colombo.

The festival, held on 28 and 29 July 2005, was organised by TVE Asia Pacific’s Sri Lankan partner, the Sri Lanka Environmental Television Project (SLETP).

It has also been selected for screening at Open Frame 2005: the International Festival and Forum on Public Service Broadcasting, organised by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT), in collaboration with UNESCO, in New Delhi, India from 9 to 15 September 2005.

The film documents the tapping of the coconut tree’s sap to make treacle, a sugary syrup, and jaggery, a sugar substitute, both popular sweetners among Sri Lankans.
With effective use of imagery and music, Gamlath livens up the process that hundreds of people practice as their livelihood.

But ‘Treacling Down’ is not just chronicling the process of making this natural product. Filmed in the remote mountainous village of Meemure, it shows the struggles of the villagers, and reflects the socio-economic disparities between the low income producers and the mostly middle class consumers who buy it off supermarket shelves.

Gamlath, who works for non-profit television group Rashmi TV, is an alumnus of the 7-day intensive training workshop on ‘Understanding Environment and Sustainability’ held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 12 to 18 October 2003. It was organised by TVE Asia Pacific in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ). It brought together 24 television and video professionals from all over South Asia to sharpen their skills in covering sustainable development in the context of their sub-region.

Upali Gamlath, one of three Sri Lankan participants at the Kathmandu workshop chosen on an open competitive basis, acknowledges how that workshop changed his perspectives and built his capacity.

“It opened my eyes to the intricacies of environment and development. I realized that covering environment is a lot more than just green and brown issues. People’s livelihoods and social justice concerns are very much a part of sustainable development,” he said shortly after winning the top award in Colombo.

‘Treacling Down’ was adjudged the best entry by an independent national jury of the short film festival, the first ever event of its kind to be held in Sri Lanka. The event was supported by a catalytic grant from TVE Asia Pacific, and received media sponsorship from Wijeya Newspapers Limited, a leading publishing house in Sri Lanka.

The prize was presented to Upali at the awards ceremony held at Mahaweli Centre, Colombo, by Mr. Siri Ranasinghe, Editor-in-Chief of Lankadeepa newspaper.

“We are naturally delighted by Upali’s award,” says Nalaka Gunawardene, Director of TVE Asia Pacific. “This seems to be part of a trend. In the nearly two years since we held the South Asian training workshop in Kathmandu, several of our alumni have won various festival prizes, earned promotions at their work places, or been awarded foreign scholarships to further their media studies.”

The Kathmandu alumni have formed themselves into a loose network that stays in contact through a Yahoo group. They exchange their personal updates as well as news on festivals, training opportunities and interesting activities related to their profession.

Shortly after Upali’s success in Colombo came the news that his film will also be screened at Open Frame 2005 in New Delhi in September. UNESCO and PSBT have invited him to participate in the event.

‘Treacling Down’ is one of 10 documentaries selected from around the world to be screened at this annual event. The only other Asia Pacific entries are from Bhutan, Bangladesh and India/Belgium. Click here for the full list of international films selected.

According to UNESCO, the objective of Open Frame is to showcase outstanding and innovative productions that clearly illustrate the concept of public service broadcasting, while providing a platform for intercultural dialogue and exchange through the audiovisual language.

See our news story on 2003 South Asian TV Training Workshop in Kathmandu:

Source: TVE Asia Pacific