Loosely based on the erotic poem "Caurapañcasika" by Bilhana, which was written in prison upon discovery of the poet's clandestine affair with Princess Yaminipurnatilaka. The verses were written while awaiting judgment, not knowing if he was to be executed or exiled -- his fate is unknown. Lotus-Eyed Girl ruminates on the curious and fractured intersections of death, desire, and class. Fading family photographs (from an uncle's funeral to my mother on her wedding day), pomegranate arils, pulsating floral mandalas, and horror atmospherics culminate into an ecstatic collision of death and longing -- echoing devastations of the past. Through principles of psychogeography, the systems of power that shape identity and desire, in the way that colonialism has altered human perception, are examined in an undulating and capricious form.

Production format: HD video

Selected Screenings and Awards:
2024: 29th Slamdance Film Festival
2023: 13th Interface Video Art Festival (AWARD WINNER: Best of the Festival)
2023: 6th Filmfest Sundsvall
2023: 13th International Film Festival of South Asia Toronto
2023: 24th San Diego Asian Film Festival
2023: 22nd Tirana International Film Festival (AWARD WINNER: Best Video Art & Experimental Film)
2023: 18th Tacoma Film Festival (AWARD WINNER: Best Experimental Film)
2023: 71st Melbourne International Film Festival
2023: 30th Chicago Underground Film Festival
2023: 43rd Thomas Edison Film Festival (AWARD WINNER: Jury's Citation Award)
2023: 26th Guanajuato International Film Festival
2023: 39th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
2023: 3rd Prismatic Ground
2023: 1st Odds and Ends Film Festival
2023: Mur Murs: Artists' Cinema Festival
2023: 50th Athens International Film + Video Festival
2023: 52nd International Film Festival Rotterdam