Creativepreneurs

The bootcamp

Film sat in the MakerFaire's Creativepreneurs category, the space for artists and creative entrepreneurs. We announced the film strand on 27 January 2025 and opened the call for the bootcamp on 17 February, in Tamil: a chance to learn alongside working film artists. The bootcamp was for anyone interested in filmmaking, with no experience needed, and asked for attendance on all four days.

It combined masterclasses, practical sessions, screenings and story pitching, in a studio with a green screen, studio lights and a projector.

The teachers and their sessions

Someetharan

Documentary filmmaker. Screenwriting, direction and story pitching

Navayuga Kugarajah

Writer, director and actor. Women in film

Prasanna Vithanage

Film director. Independent filmmaking, funding and festivals

Rishi Selvam

Cinematographer. Lighting, composition and colour

Karthik Subbaraj

Film director, Stone Bench, India. Joined live from India

Someetharan: screenwriting, direction and story pitching

Someetharan, a journalist and documentary filmmaker who went to school in Batticaloa, guided participants through turning stories from their own communities into films. His opening masterclass was on finding meaningful stories in a community and translating them into screen narratives, drawing on his own films. He also took participants through direction: how a screenplay becomes visual storytelling, and how a director brings the crafts of filmmaking together. On 22 February he gave the screenplay masterclass on storytelling, structure and character.

His final session was on story pitching. Every participant pitched a film idea and took feedback from Someetharan and from the rest of the group.

Navayuga Kugarajah: women in film

Navayuga Kugarajah, a writer, director and actor, led the session on the experiences of women filmmakers in Sri Lanka and on telling sensitive, socially relevant stories through cinema. She screened her own films and used them to open discussion on storytelling, representation, and what women filmmakers meet in the Sri Lankan film industry.

Prasanna Vithanage: independent filmmaking, funding and festivals

Prasanna Vithanage, one of Sri Lanka's best-known independent filmmakers, led the film-to-business masterclass on the afternoon of 21 February. He showed how Sri Lankan filmmakers can reach international film grants, development labs and festivals, how to reach audiences abroad, and how independent films are distributed through streaming platforms and festival markets. He also taught participants to write the logline and synopsis a grant application needs, and pointed them to funds open to Sri Lankan filmmakers.

Rishi Selvam: cinematography, lighting and colour

Cinematographer Rishi Selvam, a graduate of the Asian Film Academy, ran the practical sessions: cinematographic principles, lighting, shot composition, and colour that carries meaning and sets a film's atmosphere. Participants set up lighting for different shots. Rishi then shot scenes with them, edited the footage and screened the result, so they could see how lighting, framing and colour grading change the finished picture.

Karthik Subbaraj: a filmmaking career, live from India

Karthik Subbaraj, the Tamil film director of Pizza, Jigarthanda and Petta, joined live by Zoom on the final morning. He talked about his own path into the Tamil film industry, choosing and developing stories, getting past the obstacles every filmmaker meets, and building a career through short films with the resources at hand. Participants put their questions to him, and some pitched their story ideas to him directly and took his feedback.

Screenings

Paradise, with its director

On Friday 21 February we screened Paradise, Prasanna Vithanage's feature, in the Main Hall, open to everyone with an interest in film. The film takes on sensitive social and political questions. Afterwards the director opened the floor: bootcamp participants and members of the public shared how they read the film and talked through its themes and its making with him.

The participants' own work

Inside the bootcamp, Navayuga Kugarajah screened her own films, and Rishi Selvam screened the scenes the participants had just shot and edited with him. VisAct Media's documentary screening is described under media and illustration.

Day by day

Who took part

The bootcamp had fifteen places, and every participant committed to all four days, while the rest of the festival ran around them.

Outcomes

• Fifteen people learned with working filmmakers. They learned to find a story, write it for the screen, light and shoot it, and pitch it.
• Every participant pitched a film idea, and took feedback from Someetharan, the group and in some cases Karthik Subbaraj.
• Participants learned the business of film: how independent films are funded, and how to write a grant logline and synopsis.
• Film reached the public. Paradise screened in the Main Hall with its director in the room.

Music at DreamShot

Music sat in the MakerFaire's Creativepreneurs category. DreamSpace Records, our music label, ran six music strands through the four days: a music hackathon, masterclasses in music production and DJing, sessions for rappers and lyricists and for musicians and instrumentalists, and sessions in Sufi and Carnatic music. Most of the teaching artists also performed on the closing night.

The music hackathon and the DreamSpace Anthem

The music hackathon was for artists who already had work of their own. Nine artists worked one-to-one with Navz-47, an independent artist from Canada, and Gachi B, a music director from Zanzibar, to refine their material, with lunch provided.

Out of those sessions came one new song, written and produced during the hackathon: the DreamSpace Anthem, with lyrics about peace, unity and co-creation. On the closing night ten artists performed it together for the first time, led by Navz-47 and Gachi B.

Masterclasses and workshops

The production masterclass ran in an ordinary classroom, with a vocal booth improvised from a blanket and a stand.

From volunteer to performer

Jerin Sencika Joypragash came to the MakerFaire as a volunteer, to support the music hackathon: coordinating the music group and helping the artists and young participants through the creative process.

During the sessions she worked closely with Navz-47, whose encouragement moved her from behind the scenes to trying her own voice, and she had support from Gachi B and the other artists too. She wrote lyrics for the DreamSpace Anthem and sang in it. On the final day, the volunteer who had come to help others walked onto the main stage and performed at the anthem's launch.

The DreamShot Music Festival

The festival closed the MakerFaire on the evening of Sunday 23 February, after the awards ceremony. It was open to all, and brought local performers and international ones onto one stage, across rap, Sufi, Carnatic, electronic and independent music.

The night, set by set

1. DJ Ash, from Batticaloa, opened.
2. An ensemble: Kemilo Danith on violin, Sulaxshi Rajah on vocals, Shayana R on drums, Yuthesdran on cajon and Lakshanya on keyboard.
3. Imaad Majeed gave a Sufi set, drawn from his research with Muslim and Sufi communities in Sri Lanka.
4. Ajith Kanes and Thivshath Gobinath played their own work.
5. Jeroem JR performed unreleased tracks on Tamil pride and history.
6. Dinoj M played Paadum Meene, a tribute to Batticaloa.
7. SajaS performed her own songs on women's empowerment, closing with a track that fused rap with Jathigal vocals, Bharatanatyam and mridangam.
8. Vidu Shaan and Darshikan played Toronto Ponnu.
9. Ten artists performed the DreamSpace Anthem together, and Navz-47 closed the night.

After the festival, DreamSpace Records posted the concert artist by artist through March 2025, and in September 2025 released two of the performances as videos: Jeroem JR's Thamizhe and Dinoj M's Oru Raathiri.

Day by day

Who taught and performed

Navz-47

Independent artist, Canada. Co-led the music hackathon, led the anthem and closed the concert

Gachi B

Music director, Zanzibar. Co-led the hackathon, gave the production masterclass and led the anthem

Robert Rajeswaran (DJ Rob R)

DJ, Sri Lanka and the UK. Taught the DJ masterclass

Ajith Kanes

Rapper and lyricist, Sri Lanka and Switzerland. Worked with rappers and lyricists, and played his own songs

Imaad Majeed

Multidisciplinary artist, curator and writer, Colombo. Led the Sufi session and gave a Sufi set

Sulaxshi Rajah

Carnatic singer. Led the Carnatic session and sang with the ensemble

Kemilo Danith

Violinist, Batticaloa. Worked with the instrumentalists and played with the ensemble

Vidu Shaan

Rapper and singer. Led the closing music workshop and performed

DM

Dinoj Mahendranathan

DreamSpace Records. Led the music strands and performed

SS

Sajani Sivasithamparapillai (SajaS)

DreamSpace Records. Co-ran the music strands and performed

Outcomes

• A new song. The music hackathon wrote and produced the DreamSpace Anthem, and ten artists performed it on the closing night.
• Young musicians worked one-to-one with artists from Canada, Zanzibar, the UK, Switzerland and Sri Lanka.
• Local traditions sat beside new music. Sufi, Carnatic and Bharatanatyam shared the programme with rap, electronic and independent music.
• A volunteer became a songwriter and performer, on the main stage at the anthem's launch.

Media at DreamShot

Alongside the filmmaking bootcamp, the MakerFaire ran sessions on telling stories with pictures and on reporting. They were open to anyone who came, with no experience needed.

VisAct Media's documentary

VisAct Media is our solution-based reporting platform. On Friday 21 February it screened its own documentary work and held a discussion afterwards. Dinesh Balasri of the VisAct team introduced its approach: journalism that looks for solutions, and stories that move people from being voiceless to being heard.

Cartoon illustration

On 21 February, from 11 am to 1 pm, the illustrator and cartoonist Pradeep Canagasuriyar ran a hands-on cartoon illustration workshop, open to anyone with an interest in drawing. It covered creative storytelling and character design. By lunchtime the room's glass wall was covered in the participants' drawings.

The green-screen studio

The DreamSpace Productions team set up a working green-screen studio in Kaleidoscope, with lights and cameras, and ran it through the MakerFaire for visitors and for the filmmaking bootcamp.

Photography for hearing-impaired participants

Some MakerFaire workshops were run specifically for hearing-impaired participants: pottery and palmyra on the first day, photography on the second and pottery again on the third. We have worked with deaf and non-speaking makers since 2023, when we hired a deaf photographer for a skill he already had, and he went on to teach photography, design and editing to others. The craft sessions are described under Koothu and traditional crafts.

Recording the event

Our own media teams documented the four days. A photographer covered every day, with a second camera on the Friday and the Sunday, and short films were posted on the our pages during and after the event. DreamSpace Records posted the closing concert artist by artist through March 2025.

Local media covered the faire too. BattiMedia reported on the maker exhibition in Batticaloa on 20 February 2025, in Tamil.

Who ran it

Pradeep Canagasuriyar

Illustrator and cartoonist. Ran the cartoon illustration workshop

Dinesh Balasri and Thirinethry

VisAct Media. Presented the documentary screening and discussion

Premaluxshan Krishnakumar

DreamSpace Productions. Led Kaleidoscope

Joel Antony Alphones, Thinushanth Mahendran and Suvirajan Rasenthiram

DreamSpace Productions. Ran the green-screen studio

Koothu

Koothu, the region's traditional theatre, was performed by local artists on Saturday 22 February, on open ground a few metres from the line-following track. A workshop from 4 to 8 pm showed how Koothu stories and songs are written, how the choreography works and how the costumes are made. Twenty-one people took part, and the Annaviyar Navaratnam Sivaratnam joined as the Koothu expert.

Navaratnam Sivaratnam

Annaviyar, Koothu

Traditional crafts

Palmyra, pottery and handloom ran through the four days, taught by people who make a living from them, to anyone who sat down to try. Valanshiya Thevatharsan taught palmyra crafts, and Nagalingkam Ruparaj of A1 Manufacturing taught pottery and sculpture.

Valanshiya Thevatharsan

Palmyra crafts

Nagalingkam Ruparaj

Pottery and sculpture, A1 Manufacturing

Workshops for hearing-impaired participants

Some sessions were run specifically for hearing-impaired participants: pottery and palmyra on the first day, photography on the second, and pottery again on the third, with a signed register. We have worked with deaf and non-speaking makers since 2023.