For over a year, with delays due to the pandemic, I worked closely with Kandygs Handlooms to bring their origin story to life through a short stop motion animation. As a childhood friend of the Kandygs grandchildren, this project was extremely special and close to home. All the props and puppets were built by a skilled team at the Kandygs factory using handloom fabrics, then filmed frame-by-frame at my animation studio at home. The voices are narrated by the 12 grandchildren of the founders, Mr. Felix and Mrs. Sita Yahampath.
Meena’s colourful childhood is snatched away from her when her family is pushed into the brink of poverty and desperation. The story is directed by Yoshitha Perera and animated by Irushi Tennekoon with funding from Agenda14 and British Council’s Female Filmmakers First Grant. The Girl in the Rainwater Tree won the Best National Short Film award at the Jaffna International Cinema Festival in 2022.
83 – A Very Short Film is an animation by Irushi Tennekoon, Sumudu Athukorala and Sumedha Kelegama. It tells the story of a man who is haunted by the memories of his involvement in the Black July riots of 1983. ’83 won the ‘Best Animated Film’ award at the Agenda14 Short Film Festival in 2016 and was screened at the Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka. The film is also currently part of NYU Abu Dhabi’s MENASA Film and New Media syllabus.
