M.I.A. and Stephen Loveridge

“This is the first Mike Leigh film I ever saw in my life and it just that came out or we were at college didn't it? 93, yes. This kind of defined our time during film degree is British filmmaking but it's just so great. It's such an amazing film. If you're in a council flat that it just kind of it gave you some sort of I don't know it just made you feel good because it's so clever and then you were like wow our poor people down and out like begging in the street can also be smart.”

“I am gonna pick Kes just because I've just moved to Sheffield in the England. Barry Hines who wrote this and Ken Loach who directed it. This film is probably the best thing that they did together and it's just incredible like every one of our age in the UK has seen this film it's just such a iconic bit of British culture and its really like captures the heartbeat of the north and yeah it's just amazing.”

“Since I'm called Missing in action I'm gonna choose Missing by Costa-Gavras. This kind of resonates for what's going on in Sri Lanka right now. The reason why I'm called M. I. A. So this is like the first film that connected with that though it's based on a situation in South America. You should watch it. It's incredible the cinematography and like it's kind of like real but it's very the aesthetic is very Born Free like if you've seen the Born Free video.”

“I want to choose Dheepan. Jacques Audiard actually sent the script to me before he made it to cast me as the girl and then I got fired off the job because they said I was too good-looking. But I am the actual Sri Lankan refugee. He was the first director to bring it into the serious film space a cinematic space so I just respect him enough that and he's a great director. A Prophet was one of my favorite films ever so I just found it extremely flattering and amazing.”

“I saw Badlands and now I can't see it. It's my favorite film by the way. This is what Terrence Malick is a genius. I just find it really dreamy. Remember seeing it the first time and then forgetting what it was and what it was called but remembering like a shot of a piano on fire and then that xylophone tune that's all the way through it and just individual images like dreamlike that's an absolutely beautiful film. This is real filmmaking.”