The Temple (2018)

At the northern tip of Sri Lanka stands Nallur Kandaswamy, one of the country's most important Hindu temple. It has known many hardships throughout its long history, being destroyed during the Dutch colonial and more recently during the Sri Lanka Civil War. To this day the Temple remains a powerful example of the resilience of the Tamil community. Each year it hosts a religious festival which spans over 25 days and brings more than 300 000 people to the small Town of Nallur in the Jaffna District. Part ethnographic film and part experimental film, The Temple is a hybrid piece of cinematography that questions the act of observing. The camera deploys itself not only as a character but also as a filter and developer which reveals the distance that separates the filmmaker from her subject.