SCREENINGS

SYNOPSIS

Rudran, on trial as a former Tamil Tiger militant, is released on bail. He returns to his village in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province with his mother, an aging fortune teller. While she spends her days in the spiritual world trying to locate the whereabouts of the disappeared for a deeply grieving village community, Rudran begins his own tireless search for his childhood sweetheart, Vaani. With a cast and crew of local Tamils who all directly experienced the civil war, SAND is a deeply authentic reflection on the post-war consciousness of Sri Lanka’s ethnic minority. Visakesa Chandrasekaram explores this perspective with masterful subtlety and precise, quiet pacing. Rudran’s journey consists of moments of silence, tenderness and contemplation, encapsulating the cost of the civil war and the weight of his failure to fight for Tamil identity in the quiet melancholy of the lead actor’s multi-layered performance.