Female And Fearless

With her larger than life persona and humble attitude, Ishani Jayamaha, film director and writer, is a delightful conversationalist. The vibe she exudes isn’t a surprise being a storyteller of our generation. With her beautiful and heartwarming short film Kakkutta, she made her mark in a largely male-dominated industry which women usually think twice in venturing into! Here, she talks about the trials and tribulations she faced.

- Yasodhara Kariyawasam

A FILMMAKER, WRITER, EDUCATOR

"I'm, first of all, a storyteller," said Ishani who has grown up listening to the stories told by her grandmother and reading books. If you look closely, some of her films revolve around children. Kids are the most precious and truthful people, yet they are the most misunderstood. She believes most adults are children whose dreams were never given validation because the education system tends to impose mainstream careers on children from a very young age. Determined to tell stories through children with a message to adults, she chose filmmaking as her medium after she graduated from Bangalore University in India with a Bachelor's in Journalism, English Literature and Psychology. After working as a television producer at Young Asia Television and Independent Television Network in Sri Lanka, she applied for the Fulbright Scholarship and was pleasantly surprised when she received the scholarship to read for her Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking at New York Film Academy.

THE FEMALE FILMMAKER IN SRI LANKA