Ho Gaana Pokuna

Ho Gana Pokuna හෝ ගානා පොකුණ
official poster
Directed by	Indika Ferdinando
Produced by	Sunil T. Fernando Kusumsiri Liyanarachi Yashodara Sarachchandra Dayananda Liyanarachi Shyama Athukorala Bimal Fernando Nirosha Fernando Geetha Muthumala
Screenplay by	Indika Ferdinando
Starring	Jayalath Manorathna Lucien Bulathsinhala Thishakya Kumarathunga Anjalee Wickramasinghe Anasuya Subasinghe Jagath Chamila
Music by	Dinesh Subasinghe
Cinematography	Channa Deshapriya
Production company	Next Frame Studio & Production
Distributed by	Sunil T Films
Release date	11 December 2015
Running time	119 minutes
Country	Sri Lanka
Language	Sinhala

Ho Gana Pokuna (The Singing Pond) (Sinhalese: හෝ ගානා පොකුණ) is a 2015 Sri Lankan children's musical drama film written and directed by Indika Ferdinando.^[1][2] It depicts a teacher in a remote village, Uma (Anasuya Subasinghe), teaching her students to focus on something they have never seen before.^[3]

The film was awarded the Teacher's Choice Prize at the 31st Chicago International Children's Film Festival,^[4] Best Feature Film at the 38th Lucas International Children's Festival,^[5][6] and the City of Zlin Award at the 55th Zlín Film Festival.^[7] It had its world premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival and was designated as the official selection at the Hanoi International Film Festival.^[5][8][9]

Plot

A new teacher, Uma (Anasuya Subasinghe), arrives at a school with her first appointment in a remote village near Dambulla in Sri Lanka. The school has few students, with only the principal (Lucian Bulathsinghala) and Uma as the teacher. With the help of Uma the pupils gradually start to dream of bigger things than they ever imagined.

One day Upuli, a blind girl, shares her unseen dream with school friends Sukiri and Ukkun. It gradually becomes the dream throughout the village. The children and Uma encounter perils in their venture to realise this dream. The children of the school start to focus on something they have never seen before. This target gives rise to a small revolution.^[10]

Film crew

The movie was directed by Indika Ferdinando. It was produced by Kusumsiri Liyanarachi, Yashodara Sarachchandra, Dayananda Liyanarachi, Shyama Athukorala, Bimal Fernando, Nirosha Fernando, and Geetha Muthumala. Principal photography was undertaken by Channa Deshapriya and editing by Thissa Surendra.^[11]

Cast

• Anusuya Subasinghe^[12] as Uma the Teacher
• Lucien Bulathsinhala as School principal
• Jayalath Manoratne as Bus driver
• Dayadewa Edirisinghe as Gramasevaka
• Jayani Senanayake
• Hyacinth Wijeratne
• Senate Dikkumbura
• Geetha Kanthi Jayakody
• Ama Wijesekera
• Jagath Chamila as Uma's lover (only voice)

Musical score

The film's score and songs were composed and conducted by Dinesh Subasinghe.^[13][14] Vocals for the theme song, "Rata Pena Kiri Haawa", were provided by Thrishala Wijethunga with background vocals by Dewmini Fernando, Dinith Ridhmika, Banuka Senivirathna and Nishami Naizara.^[15]

Awards and nominations

Box office

Ho Gaana Pokuna completed 100 days^[30] and went up to 147 days until the release date of movie 'Pathini'. It was a huge box office success in Sri lanka and won the Highest Grossing movie Award at the 4th Derana Sunsilk Film Festival. The film was recorded as the first Sri Lankan movie to released in Blu-Ray technology.^[31]

References

External links

• Official website
• Ho Gaana Pokuna on IMDb
• Hogaana Pokuna (The Singing Pond) at Zlin Festival
• Singing pond at Hannoi international film festival
• The Singing Pond at Monash University Art news
• (in Sinhalese) Ho Gaana Pokuna at Cinema.lk
• Ho Gaana Pokuna on The Island
• Ho Gaana Pokuna at the National Film Corporation
• (in Sinhalese) දයාදේව එදිරිසිංහ හෝ ගානා පොකුණේ අත්දැකීම් හෙළිකරයි
• (in Sinhalese) හෝ ගානා පොකුණ ගතානුගතිකත්වයෙන් මිදුණු චිත්‍රපටයක්
• (in Sinhalese) හෝ ගානා පොකුණෙන් ලෝක සිනමාවේ වාර්තාවක්