Hello from the Other Side: Sri Lankan film making waves on international stage-By Divya Thotawatte
From left: Hello from the Other Side Director Vinosha Kiriwandeniya, Lead Actress Dilki Dissanayake, Lead Actor Damith Wijayathunga, and Hello from the Other Side Producer Vijendran Watson
Source:FT
A brilliant creation exploring morality in the face of mortality, Hello from the Other Side, an international award-winning film from Sri Lanka, has been making its mark on a global scale, spotlighting the talent and creative culture of Sri Lanka.
Hello from the Other Side, released in Sri Lanka on 6 March this year, has already earned multiple accolades at global film festivals. The film won Best International Feature Film at the Indian Independent Film Festival (IIFF) (December-January 2024-2025 Edition) and took home the Best Feature Film award at the Titan International Film Festival (2025, 1st Edition). It also earned two Awards of Merit (Special Mention) at the IndieFEST Film Awards, recognising Best Asian Filmmaker (Vinosha Kiriwandeniya) and Asian Theme.
The film is the latest work by Selvern Trust Founder, author and debut producer Vijendran Watson, who wrote the story as a milestone project to mark his 70th birthday. After collaborating on the 10-episode teledrama Sihinaya Obeymai, a series aimed at educating migrating domestic workers about abuse and human trafficking, Watson teamed up with director Vinosha Kiriwandeniya again, allowing the young filmmaker to further colour the film with her unique creative touch.
The film follows the life and actions of three individuals from rural Sri Lanka; a doctor, a nurse and a professional cricketer, where they are caught in a web of murder and corruption as the burdens of their individual pasts shape their choices. With its emotionally-charged narrative and multi-threaded storytelling, the film explores the fragility of life in a world where morality is in question and relationships are strained under the weight of betrayal, parental influence, and upbringing.
The storyline is intense and thought-provoking, highlighting the importance of doing good in life where that energy is transferred to the soul in its journey to the next. Speaking on the journey of writing this story of crime and spirituality, Watson said, “I just celebrated my 70th birthday, and that was part of the reason I did the movie. About two years ago, I started doing research on the fragility of life. We’re getting to that age when we are losing more friends. I lost around 35 of my classmates at this point in time. I didn’t want to do a story that puts that subject in your face. So it had to be a drama that incorporated this subject without being too obvious.”
As a passion project that was deeply personal to Watson, his involvement in the final product of Hello from the Other Side was significant. However, he explained that working with Kiriwandeniya had been reassuring and effective because their creative visions aligned perfectly. While he had entrusted Kiriwandeniya with shaping the screenplay and characters, she had been able to bring her own distinct creative perspective into the film while remaining true to his original intent.
In bringing the story to life, Watson noted that he had also wanted to empower and create opportunities to new and younger creatives. Therefore, recognising the challenges of the male-dominated filmmaking industry, Watson was proud to support and collaborate with Kiriwandeniya as one of Sri Lanka’s youngest female feature film directors. Believing in nurturing fresh talent, he had also casted emerging actors for the lead roles of the film.
Being a debut producer himself, navigating the processes of making the film had at first been challenging for Watson. “As a debut producer, it was a challenge. But it’s a challenge I wanted to take. The passion of that message you want to give drives you to make the right choices. I had to do a lot of research and talk to a lot of people, and choosing a team that I had worked before with on the tele drama gave me that confidence that they would do it well.”
Drawing from his own experience watching local films, Watson explained that he had wanted to break away from the slower, scene-heavy pacing of traditional Sri Lankan films. With an emotionally layered, constantly shifting rhythm to it, Hello from the Other Side is designed to push the audience to think and delve deep into its themes and message while simultaneously keeping them engaged and entertained.
Another standout element of the film is its sound design. “We had a very unique sound process because Chalaka Perera and Mithun Karunathilaka did it. The sound was all done on site, on location. We had everyone mic’d and we didn’t do any dubbing back in the studio. We didn’t have to. I think it comes out in the movie–the emotion and the thing. It changes if you bring it back into the studio and try to put the same sound.”
Post-production and editing is another area that the film’s impact was carefully crafted. Watson explained that every detail was intentional and carefully designed to fit the nuanced vision of Watson and Kiriwandeniya.
The impact of the film has already been recognised on an international scale, winning awards at several film festivals. Commenting on this recognition, Watson said, “That’s amazing, actually, because I never expected to win anything.”
Looking ahead, Watson said that he was eager to ensure the film reaches as many Sri Lankans as possible, both locally and in the diaspora. He will not only release it in local theatres later this year, but mentioning the large Sri Lankan population living in Australia, the UK, USA and Canada, Watson also shared his plans to take the film to film festivals in those countries and promote it on online platforms as well.
