Riverstone

In the mountainous landscapes of the Knuckles Range in Sri Lanka, a convoy of three police officers is responsible for escorting a young prisoner back to his village in the Riverstone area. The destination is ominous: the unspoken purpose of the mission is the execution of the suspect with no regard for judicial procedures. During the journey, tension intensifies not between the police officer and the prisoner, but within the escort itself. The three officers, although they have the same assignment, are each distracted by their own moral dilemmas, their personal anxieties and their hidden motivations. The young prisoner ironically mirrors the hypocrisy and wavering morality of his jailors. The journey reveals complex divisions: between the men, between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities, and between those who wield different levels of power. The fatal journey is transformed into a meditation on duty, morality, abuse of power and the potential for humanity and connectedness in the face of state violence. - 'In our country, it is very common for the state to violate the rule of law rather than enforce it. The population has long remained silent with regard to these murders.' Lalith Rathnayake