Sri Lanka

A DISTINGUISHED SRI LANKAN FILMMAKER

The first Sri Lankan feature film, Kadavunu Poronduva (Broken Promise) was made in 1947, just one year before Sri Lanka obtained independence from British rule. During the past six decades, Sri Lankan cinema has made steady progress, winning international awards, while facing numerous formidable social, political, and economic challenges. The ethnic conflict that has engulfed the island for the past 25 years has certainly not helped matters. In 1956, Lester James Peries, who was to put Sri Lankan cinema on the international map, directed the path breaking film Rekava (Line of Destiny); this inaugurated the artistic tradition of filmmaking in Sri Lanka. The focus of this short essay is on one of the most important film directors of Sri Lanka, who has chosen to follow the artistic tradition of filmmaking opened up by Lester James Peries: Prasanna Vithanage. He has earned a wide reputation, both nationally and internationally, as a distinguished filmmaker from Sri Lanka.

Prasanna Vithanage emerged as a film director in the 1990s. His first feature film, Sisila Gini Ganee (Fire and Ice) was made in 1992. Since then, he has gone on to direct a number of important films, winning national and international awards on the way. His second film Anantha Rathriya (Dark Night of the Soul), released in 1995, won eight awards including the award for the best film at the Film Critics Awards sponsored by the Film Critics' Forum of Sri Lanka...

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