‘Not So Greener Pastures’, the latest documentary film by Udan Fernando, was released on 06 October.
There will be a public screening of the film on 01 November at the Goethe Institute in Colombo as part of Goethe monthly film forum.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by the curator of the Goethe Film Forum, Anomaa Rajakaruna.
The 59-minute long ‘Not So Greener Pastures’ explores the varied experiences of Sri Lankan émigrés to the Southeast Asian Island nation of Timor-Leste.
The synopsis is four young men, hailing from four corners of Sri Lanka, leave behind the country’s conflict-ridden shores at the turn of the new century to rebuild their lives in an unusual destination and lesser-known country.
Nearly twenty years on, the four men recount their - at times - harrowing journeys to gain a foothold in an obscure “greener pasture”, highlighting their camaraderie and the underlying tensions in relationships, the everyday struggles of living in dissonance and the seemingly random events that unexpectedly shape their lives.
Interspersed with insights into Timor Leste’s history of conflict, the documentary presents as outsiders, how these domiciled individuals anchored themselves in a new land by navigating and negotiating a scarred political and economic terrain not dissimilar to what they chose to leave behind.
