Revered filmmaker Prasanna Vathanage said “I am extremely happy to receive this award today. Gaadi has been a dream project for me. I have been working for thirty years for this project. Today I would like to thank the entire team of Gaadi who contributed to give a long-due dignity to a group of people who have been treated as human dust in Sri Lanka.”
This award was presented by the APSA International Nominations Council who said “One of the most prominent Sri Lankan filmmakers, Prasanna Vithanage, has told an incredibly tough but important story with delicacy and beauty. The story of oppression, cruelty and rejection, juxtaposed with the exquisite beauty of nature and the inhabitants of this land is striking. But the most important thing conveyed by the director is depicting the strength of the spirit of the people in the struggle for their freedom.”
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.