Riverstone
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Theatrical Screenings
Kinoteka 3
Kinoteka 4
Online Availability
Additional Materials
Film description
Three police officers escort a prisoner through Sri Lanka’s mountainous terrain. What begins as a routine assignment, however, gathers weight with every passing kilometre – a journey that changes everything, yet changes nothing at all. Confined within the tight space of a police jeep, a confrontation of beliefs, resentments, and doubts unfolds. The destination and its inevitable conclusion are clear to everyone onboard – including the young prisoner, who has already experienced the mechanisms of power from the inside.
Lalith Rathnayake transforms a road movie into an intimate study of violence and accountability. As the characters converse, the boundaries imposed by their systemic roles gradually crumble. For, as the journey reveals, the line separating the police from criminals comes down to motivation alone. Ultimately, both Buddhism and Hinduism are explicit: the consequences of our actions stem from intention – it is intention that determines the ethical quality of all human deeds. In Rathnayake’s film, the stark Sri Lankan landscape serves as the backdrop for a meditation on the meaning of life, systemic violence, and the law of karma.
text:
Blanka K. Dżugaj
Lalith Rathnayake
A Sri Lankan film and television director and screenwriter. He began his career as an assistant director before creating television series; when he transitioned to cinema, his feature debut went on to win numerous international awards. A keen observer of contemporary Sri Lankan social and political life, Rathnayake focuses his work on themes of violence, suffering, personal responsibility, and the law of karma.
2008-2009 Arungal (tv series)
2018 Thaththa (tv series)
2019 Vishama Bhaga / The Other Half
2023 Jeewithaye Ek Dawasak / One Day in Life
2025 Riverstone

