After an illegal militant group kills her husband, ordinary housewife Kusum does anything to support her eight children and her mother-in-law. However, there is not only a huge amount of work to do for a poor and powerless working class widow, but she also has to endure the contempt and surliness of a male-oriented society. She finally loses the last vestiges of dignity when she is driven to prostitution and in the end, she makes a truly extreme choice.

Director biography
Sanjeewa Pushpakumara is a Sri Lankan writer and, director. He pursued a diploma in filmmaking at the Sri Lanka National Film Corporation in 2006. In 2014 he obtained his advanced degree in film-making from the Chung-Ang University in South Korea as a Korean Government Scholarship Holder (KGSP). In 2009. His first feature film, Flying Fish received support from the Hubert Bals Fund of Rotterdam IFF. In 2012, Sanjeewa was invited to Paris by Cinéfondation of Cannes Film Festival to develop his second feature film, Burning Birds.

Director : Sanjeewa Pushpakumara
Producer : Antonin Dedet, Sanjeewa Pushpakumara
Cast : Anoma Janadari, Samanalee Fonseka, Chandani Senavirathne
Screenplay : Sanjeewa Pushpakumara
Director : Sanjieewa Pushpakumara
Producers : Antonin Dedet ,Sanjeewa Pushpakumara
Director of photography : Kalinga Deshapriya
Editors : Ajith Ramanayake, Katharina Wartena
Music : R.Abaji, Philip David Sheppard
Art director : Piyathissa Akurambada
Costume Designer : Ajantha Alahakoon
Sound Engineer : Aruna Priyantha Kaluarchchi, Nicolas D'halluin
Production Company : Neon Productions
World sales : Film Republic
World sales phone : +44 (0)203 287 9112
Festivals :
Busan IFF
Tokyo FILMeX IFF
Rotterdam IFF
Locarno Film Festival
Selected Filmography
Flying Fish
Burning Birds
Original title : Davena Vihagun
English title : Burning Birds
Country : France, Sri Lanka
Language : Sinhala
Year : 2016
Runtime : 84 min
Colour