Lecturer Wins Prestigious Award for Independent Film
Cal State San Marcos lecturer Rajee Samarasinghe received a major prize at the recent Film Independent Spirit Awards, the premier annual awards ceremony dedicated solely to honoring independent film and television, celebrating artists who work outside the major studio system.
Samarasinghe was honored with the Truer Than Fiction Award, which is presented to “an emerging director of nonfiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.” The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant; it’s one of only three Independent Spirit Award categories that offer cash prizes in addition to trophies.
The 41st annual awards ceremony took place Feb. 15 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
A lecturer in CSUSM’s art, media and design department since 2021, Samarasinghe is a Sri Lankan filmmaker and visual artist who left his native country during its civil war and is now based in Southern California.
He was recognized for his feature film debut, “Your Touch Makes Others Invisible,” which was released last year. In the film, he blends interviews, news footage and reenactments to explore the painful history of the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war, in which tens of thousands of people (mostly from the nation’s Tamil minority) are believed to have disappeared, often at the hands of military forces.
“I’m deeply honored, Samarasinghe said. ”More than recognition of a single project, the award feels like an affirmation of the sustained, often difficult work that politically engaged filmmakers do to sit with difficult histories and keep bringing them into view."
Of the cash prize, he said: “It helps me keep making the kinds of films I want to make – work that isn’t always embraced with open arms, whether because it leans toward the avant-garde or because it confronts difficult, often heavy subjects. It's truly an incredible gift that gives me some freedom and stability to keep taking risks.”
Samarasinghe previously has directed multiple award-winning short films. He earned a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from UC San Diego and a master’s in film and video from the California Institute of the Arts.
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