Series of short films | Sri Lanka 2025

A screendance research and creation residency led by Michael Maurissens and Jayampathi Guruge in the lush rain forest of Down South Sri Lanka. A series of dance films were created in collaboration with Chanaka Kankanamge, Sara Zirkel, Nadika Weligodapola, Dinupa Kodagoda, Pathum Dharmarathna, Sangarappillai Priyasaravanan, Shalini Wanninayake, Nethma Mettananda

Directed and facilitated by Jayampathi Guruge & Michael Maurissens

Organised by SpaceEka – Sri Lanka
Supported by ⁠Ian Und Barbara Karan-Stiftung Hamburg, Kaley Natural Farms - Illukpitiya, Kotapola - Sri Lanka, CARRÉ BLANC PRODUCTIONS, ⁠IDAS, ⁠THEEVRA, ⁠With Love - NaDinu, ⁠Ravibandhu Samanthi Center For The Arts, ⁠Goethe Institut Sri Lanka, Wanninayaka

’Priyasaravanan & Pathum’| 4'

Choreography and performance Sangarapillai Priyasaravanan and pathum Dharmarathna
Cinematography and Edit Michael Maurissens
Production Assistant Nether Mettananda
Music Raasa Kannu Lyric | Udhayanidhi Stalin | A.R. Rahmen | Mari Selvaraj

Priyasaravanan | 14:30’

What does it mean to belong to a place that does not fully claim you?
A photographic collaboration with Bharatanatyam dancer Priyasaravanan created in the lush rainforests of Sri Lanka. The Tamil body, historically politicized and displaced within Sri Lanka’s postcolonial landscape, carries both the trauma of exclusion and the tenacity of cultural endurance. Priyasaravanan does not perform in front of nature, but within it—surrendering to the forest, nesting in its roots, resting on the skins of fallen trees and becoming both foreign and native, visible and veiled, rooted and restless.

Choreography and performance Sangarapillai Priyasaravanan
Photography and Edit Michael Maurissens
Production Assistant Nether Mettananda

Shalini Wanninayake  | 6’

In this experimental video, artist Shalini Wanninayake merges modeling, costume design, and contemporary dance into a striking interdisciplinary exploration.

NaDinu  | 8’

An immersive visual and sonic journey crafted by music artists Nadika Weligodapola and Dinupa Kodagoda.