Your Touch Makes Others Invisible
| Your Touch Makes Others Invisible | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Rajee Samarasinghe |
| Written by | Rajee Samarasinghe |
| Produced by |
|
| Cinematography | Kalinga Deshapriya |
| Edited by | Rajee Samarasinghe |
| Music by | Rafaël Leloup |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Countries | Sri Lanka United States |
| Languages | Tamil Sinhala English Russian |
Your Touch Makes Others Invisible is a 2025 Sri Lankan–American hybrid documentary film directed by Rajee Samarasinghe. The film examines the aftermath of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka following the country’s civil war.
The film premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2025 and went on to win the Truer Than Fiction Award at the 41st Independent Spirit Awards.[1][2]
Synopsis
[edit]As many as 100,000 people, predominantly members of the minority Tamil community, are estimated to have disappeared during the 26-year-long Sri Lankan Civil War. Through a unique synthesis of interviews, news clips and re-enactments this docufiction reflects on this harrowing history as families search for loved ones that disappeared without a trace.[3]
Release
[edit]Your Touch Makes Others Invisible premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2025 in the festival's Bright Future section.[4] The film subsequently screened at various international film festivals and cinematheques.[5]
Reception
[edit]The film received critical attention for its hybrid documentary approach and its treatment of memory and political violence. Critics highlighted its blend of testimony with stylized, poetic imagery. In Filmmaker, Vadim Rizov wrote that the film proceeds along “impressionistic and spectacular lines,” using oblique strategies to approach memory and absence.[6] Debanjan Dhar of High On Films called it “a vital, self-fracturing reckoning” and “a shifting monument to memories,” praising its “formal fluidity.”[7] Writing for In Review Online, Michael Sicinski emphasized the film’s deliberate refusal of synthesis, moving between the everyday and the mysterious as a reflection of unresolved historical trauma.[8]
Accolades
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Film Independent Spirit Awards | Truer Than Fiction | Rajee Samarasinghe | Won[9] |
| 2025 | Chicago Underground Film Festival | Jury Award for Editing | Rajee Samarasinghe | Won[10] |
| 2025 | Austin Asian American Film Festival | Special Jury Award for Creative Vision | Rajee Samarasinghe, and Kalinga Deshapriya | Won[11] |
| 2025 | Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival | New Cinema Award | Your Touch Makes Others Invisible | Won[12] |
| 2025 | International Film Festival Rotterdam | NETPAC Award | Your Touch Makes Others Invisible | Nominated[13] |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Film Independent Spirit Awards 2026 winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards: Emerging Filmmaker Awards winners announced". TheWrap. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Your Touch Makes Others Invisible". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Your Touch Makes Others Invisible". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Your Touch Makes Others Invisible". MUBI. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ Rizov, Vadim (2025). "IFFR 2025: Bright Futures (and Others)". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
- ↑ Dhar, Debanjan (2025). "Your Touch Makes Others Invisible (2025) 'IFFR' Movie Review". High On Films. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
- ↑ Sicinski, Michael (February 12, 2025). "Your Touch Makes Others Invisible". In Review Online. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Rajee Samarasinghe". Film Independent Spirit Awards. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
- ↑ "Award Winners: Best of the Chicago Underground Film Festival 2025". FACETS. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
- ↑ "2025 Jury & Audience Awards". Austin Asian American Film Festival. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
- ↑ "2025 New Cinema Award Winners". Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
- ↑ "YOUR TOUCH MAKES OTHERS INVISIBLE – ethnocineca". ethnocineca. Retrieved February 22, 2026.