THIS IS MY MOON

English Title: THIS IS MY MOON

The prolonged conflict between the ruling Sinhalese and rebel Tamil guerilla separatists on the island of Sri Lanka sets the stage for a nocturnal encounter of two strangers on the battleground ? a Sinhalese soldier and a Tamil refugee woman who willingly submits to the man's rape under fire. The soldier hails from a small, impoverished Sinhalese village and his values have warped beyond recognition, under twin siege from deprivation and unending war. In this town, where the village bookie doesn't even have enough wherewithal to pay a winning gambler, young women vie to marry the few remaining, able-bodied males in the hopes that their army wages will support the families if the men survive the fighting ? and then the compensation payments will suffice if they don't. Into such an environment arrives the soldier, a hometown boy who has just deserted his garrison, thus forfeiting any service pay. His AWOL status means a less-than-enthusiastic reception by his disappointed relatives and scandalized fiancee. And tagging along with him is that same nameless, mysterious Tamil woman, silent (she can't speak the language) but dogged in her determination to fulfill a mission of her own. Their presence turns the homefront into a map of jealousy, betrayal and lust. Wry humor and weary melancholy blend in this ironic tale of human nature twisted by strife. (In Sinhala with English subtitles)