Underplayed Gems

Ho Gaana Pokuna (2015)

Ho Gaana Pokuna poster
Original title
හෝ ගානා පොකුණ
Directed by
Indika Ferdinando
Genre
drama, family, music, comedy, adventure
Country
Sri Lanka
Runtime
2h
Rating
7.4 of 10 from 5 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

A teacher in a remote Sri Lankan village encourages her students to observe things they have never seen. The film follows the children as they explore their world through this new lens.

gentlewhimsicalhopefulheartfeltslow-pacedearthyintimate

What happens

Ho Gana Pokuna (The Singing Pond) (Sinhala: හෝ ගානා පොකුණ) is a 2015 Sri Lankan children's musical drama film written and directed by Indika Ferdinando. It depicts a teacher in a remote village, Uma (Anasuya Subasinghe), teaching her students to focus on something they have never seen before. The film was awarded the Teacher's Choice Prize at the 31st Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Best Feature Film at the 38th Lucas International Children's Festival, and the City of Zlin Award at the 55th Zlín Film Festival. It had its world premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival and was designated as the official selection at the Hanoi International Film Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.