August Sun

The film follows three separate stories during two exciting days in August 1996, when the Sri Lanka national cricket team played at the World Cup in Lahore, Pakistan and won the championship. The match commentaries on radio and television form a link between the different tales. The sports euphoria in the country coincided with the political commotion surrounding the breakdown of the first peace talks between the Sri Lanka government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). One of the stories follows a Muslim boy and his family who are thrown out of their village by rebellious Tamil Tigers. A second narrative line is about a soldier in the Sri Lankan Army who takes leave and, before returning home, visits a town brothel where he discovers that his sister is one of the `sex workers’. The third story follows the attempt of a young woman to receive news of her husband, who is missing as a result of Air Force action. The three stories focus more on the journey and search itself than on the results of the actions. August Sun is a film about love and the need to belong. Vithanage: `The individuals in this story are all caught up in the quest to look for what they have lost. They risk everything to achieve what they think is happiness. Here lies the never-ending search for love, dignity and identity. Here is a tale of human endurance.’ (RS)