It also gave me the opportunity to work with the hugely gifted Sami El-Enany, whose score and sound design will pull you deep into the character’s altered headspace. The film is primarily driven by a visceral, physical performance by rising star Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke, couched beautifully by the accomplished cinematography of Dino Dimopoulos. Its portrayal of the Australian outback’s scorched earth and poverty-stricken communities served as visual inspiration for 'The Joyous Farmer'. I was very fortunate to work on this film with a number of talented individuals. Specifically, I looked to the 1971 Australian film 'Wake in Fright'. Visually, I looked to films that are firmly based in reality but maintain a dream-like quality at the same time. The film draws a parallel between the necessity of self-numbing in the so-called third world with the first world’s increasing dependence on designer pharmaceuticals to deal with the pressures of everyday life. 'The Joyous Farmer' also deals with the complexities of intoxication and addiction.

These stories root themselves in the real world at first, but then unwind themselves from reality, materially and psychologically. The story of ' The Joyous Farmer' is influenced by the Russian writers of Soviet-era alternative fiction, like Andrey Platonov and Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky. Unable to feed their families, many farmers in Sri Lanka turn to alcohol as a means of dulling the sharp misery of their poverty. In the 1990s, the Sri Lankan suicide rate doubled the global average, and most of the people taking their own lives were farmers receiving little to no help from the government. This story is set in the harsh and often fatal world of Sri Lankan farmers. When Anuk Arudpragasam (author of 'The Story of a Brief Marriage') told me about a short story he was writing, I was instantly interested by its mood and setting - something that was surreal and otherworldly, but rooted in the barren farmlands of the Sri Lankan south.

Joyous farmer piano