Father of cinema felicitated
View(s):Recent felicitation to Sri Lanka’s senior most filmmaker Dr. Lester James Peries organised by Sri Lanka Telecom PEO TV was great honour to the ‘Father of Sri Lanka’s cinema’.
Dr. Peries, 99-years, joined the event at Tharangani theatre at the National Film Corporation via live television from his residence. Speaking about the felicitation, Sumithra Peries said that Dr. Peiris was pleased to see the future generation of the Sinhala cinema and movie fans paying tribute to him.
At the felicitation, a discussion was held with the aim at transmitting the knowledge about the significance of the Sinhala cinema to the future generation. Film critic and writer Ajith Galappaththi explained in length about the cinematic revolution that took place in 1950s and the background how Dr. Peries’ groundbreaking debut ‘Rekhawa’ or ‘Silver line’ was emerged. The film was a refreshing experience for country’s cinema lovers who were fed up of watching carbon copies of South Indian Tamil popular cinema made with local actors and actresses.
Among others who spoke at the discussion were Dr. Somarathna Dissanayake and Deepthi Kumara Gunarathna. Dr. Dissanayake stated that though belongs to the English speaking upper class in Sri Lanka Dr. Peries through his cinema was in touch with the common man and never missed an opportunity to enjoy the rural life in the countryside. Deepthi Kumara Gunarathna explained in length how this revolutionary filmmaker brought about radical changes in post-world war era.
SLT PEO TV took the initiation to appreciate the contribution made by Dr. Peries towards the upliftment of the Sinhala cinema.
‘It was an honour to felicitate and pay tribute to the legendary filmmaker’ the CEO of SLT PEO TV Group Ajantha Seneviratne said.
