Junglefowl

Political unrest fractures the innocence of childhood in this haunting snapshot of Sri Lanka’s brutal conflict.

In a small coastal village, a girl struggles to comprehend the threat of civil war. Her father’s decision to harbour a wounded freedom fighter in their home disturbs her wide-eyed worldview, forcing her to recognise the violence encroaching on their jungle idyll. Drawing inspiration from an incident in his mother’s childhood, Tamil-Canadian writer/director Kalainithan Kalaichelvan offers an intimate perspective on this tragic chapter in Sri Lankan history. Surreal and poetic interludes visualise the girl’s imaginative flights from an increasingly harsh reality as she begins dreaming of her family’s passage to safety.