Tags
Anthropology, Documentery film, Eye Donation, Gifts and Visions, The practice of Eye Donation in Sri Lanka, Waruni Anuruddhika
Gifts and Visions
The practice of Eye Donation in Sri Lanka
Once every year the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society hosts a national eye donation day. In the course of the day, members of the public come forward to pledge that after their death their corneas may be used to bring sight to others. ‘Gifts and Visions’ is a documentary about the 2013 event. The film records what happened on the day. It also records interviews with staff at the Eye Donation society as well as those attending the day to make their pledge. The conversations that make up the film reveal the distinctive cultural, political and religious meanings given to the practice of eye donation in Sri Lanka.
The documentary was made by Waruni Chandrasena, an independent film-maker, in collaboration with Professor Bob Simpson (Department of Anthropology, University of Durham UK) who is carrying out research into human tissue donation in Sri Lanka.
Duration 88 mins. | 2014 | Country of production: U.K.
Script: Waruni Anuruddhika
Director: Waruni Anuruddhika
Director of Photgraphy: Waruni Anuruddhika
Editor and Sound Recordist: Dileepa Jayakody
Subtitled: Sanka Malwattha
Subtitle Translator: Mark Shubert
Camera Assistant: Chamath Hasanka
Camera Equipment supplied: Chamath Hasanka
Advisor: Jagath Bandara Pathirage
Produced by: Bob Simpson
Screenings:
11th of December 2014 – ICES (International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo 08)
27th of November 2014 – SLIDS (Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society, Colombo 07)
