‘Pala’ is a cinematic thovil ritual befitting the life and work of Sri Lankan contemporary artist Pala Pothupitiye.

Pala’s artistic journey is a rare tale: he was born to a family of traditional healers in southern Sri Lanka, and not from cosmopolitan Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. In their practice, this community engages a multi-sensory experience of sound, movement and visual, which constitutes a complex and collective ancient art form focused on community, wellness, and restoration.

A thovil is a ritual that is performed with the intention of healing all manner of physical, spiritual and social afflictions. Pala inherited this knowledge from his grand-uncle and father who proudly upheld these rapidly diminishing pursuits despite continuing caste-based discrimination and marginalization.

Growing up amid the upheavals and hardship of rural poverty, insurgency and war in 1980s Sri Lanka, Pala would go on to obtain a place at university to study fine arts, locating what is now his inimitable style and expressly political repertoire of painting, sculpture and performance that draw on the sacred knowledge and aesthetics of his lineage.

The film is thus a cinematic ritual and an ode to the sensory intricacy and catharsis of a thovil, a kaleidoscopic audio-visual conversation between these ancient and contemporary artforms coupled with insights from the artist, his wife Priyanthi, and his parents to share with the viewer Pala’s extraordinary journey to becoming one of Sri Lanka’s most well-regarded artists.

Importantly, it is an endeavor to honor Pala’s community and inheritance, and echo his singular and vocal manifesto demanding recognition for the creative, social, spiritual and intellectual value of these traditional art forms that have long-been dismissed into the realm of folk art and craft.

Pala

Dir: Theena Kumaragurunathan

Run time: 1 hr 30 min

Production year: 2023

Language: Sinhala (with English Subtitles)

Countries: Sri Lanka

Documentary feature