In order to enhance the teaching of professional media to the students, the opportunities have been utilized by the Department of Media Studies to invite senior journalists, filmmakers and editors for the ‘Sharing Sessions’ in addition to the academic inputs.
On par with the above, Mr. Lenin M. Sivam, a versatile and well-known filmmaker conducted the ‘Sharing Session’ with the students on the 12th of January 2023 (Thursday) with the screening of his films; ‘A Gun and a Ring’ (2013) and ‘Protector’ (2022) for the students of Media Studies.
Lenin M. Sivam is a Canadian filmmaker. He was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka and moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1991. He writes and directs all of his movies. His first short, A Few Good People, won the Best Short Film of the Year Award from the Independent Art Film Society in 2006.
After several years of making short films, Sivam first achieved international recognition with his feature film debut in 1999 in 2009, which won awards at film festivals internationally. Sivam’s success continued with his next film, A GUN & A RING (2013), which was well received both critically and commercially and made its world premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2013 and was shortlisted for the coveted Golden Goblet Award. Sivam’s film Roobha (2018) was well-received in many top international film festivals, including Goa, Cambridge and Montreal.
The Protector (2022), a thriller, screened at many festivals internationally, opening the Blood in the Snow Festival in Toronto and closing the Jaffna International Cinema Festival. It garnered the Best Feature Film Award at the Canal de Panama International Film Festival. The Protector will be released to streaming platforms (Amazon Prime, among others) on February 13, 2023.
Prof.S.Srisatkunarajah, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jaffna graced the Sharing Session with his presence and presented a memento to Mr. Lenin M. Sivam on behalf of the University of Jaffna. Mr. A. Yesurajah, Film Critic, Mr. Kanpathy Sarvanantha, Freelance Journalist and Dr. Rathithran, Senior Lecturer, Department of Drama and Theatre along with e staff of Media Studies also participated.
The students of the Department of Media Studies and the Department of Drama and Theatre, staff of Media Studies benefitted through the session which was continued for more than five hours by inculcating a notable film exposure from the award-winning director from their motherland.
