First ever Sri Lankan film fest in Santa Barbara
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Aruni botheju
The first ever Sri Lankan film festival in abroad, Ceylon International Film Festival (CEYIFF) 2022 will have its final night today, June 12 at Santa Barbara in the USA.
Held from June 10 to 12, Sri Lanka films Somarathne Dissanayake’s ‘Under pant thief’, Benette Ratnayake’s ‘Kawuruth Danne Nehe’ (No body know), Kumara Thirimadura and Sarath Kothalawela’s ‘The Newspaper’, Jayantha Chandrasiri’s ‘Garasarapa’, Chathra Weeraman’s ‘Ayu’ and ‘The Letter’ competed at the festival. Special screening of Asoka Handagama’s newest film ‘Alborada’ will be held during the festival.
The founder of the festival is Aruni Boteju. Santa Barbara, the city of arts and culture is considered the Riviera of America, the home of the famous Santa Barbara Film Festival- SBFF. It is reputed as the original ‘Hollywood’ in California where the first American major film studio was built in 1910 which produced many silent films.
“We believe there are many stories to tell and talents to discover in the creation of movies. Cinema is a place where people can express, educate one another and share knowledge, cinema is a different type of classroom where knowledge can be shared. We support individual filmmakers to thrive and bring their work to the world,” Aruni said.
A non-profit organization dedicated to promote Sri Lanka and our Cinema to the world CEYIFF aims to discover, support and inspire individuals and independent films.
The focus of Ceylon International Film Festival is to promote Sri Lankan Cinema while opening up opportunities for Sri Lankan filmmakers to enter into the global standards of filmmaking by having an exposure to Hollywood. This also provides them with ample opportunities to exchange the global culture and immerse themselves in the creative landscape of filmmaking. Ceylon International Film Festival (CEYIFF) is the first-ever Sri Lankan Film Festival organized outside of Sri Lanka. CEYIFF is dedicated to presenting International and Sri Lankan Cinema to film lovers. We are committed to promoting new filmmakers’ projects and showcasing their films to international audiences. Our mission is to screen independent films of all genres from all around the world.
Present among the large gathering of guests were the Mayor of Santa Barbara, Cathy Murillo, Consul General of Sri Lanka, Dr Lalith Chandradasa, Director of Direct Relief International, Dean Axelrod and Direct Relief Emergency Officer Chris Alleway,
During the festival documentary trailers were screened depicting the historical heritage and cultural sites of Sri Lanka that attract filmmakers who have taken advantage of tropical forests, mesmerizing highlands and pristine beaches to make it the location for many western movies, including the Oscar Winning movies – ‘Bridge over River Kawi’, ‘Elephant Walk’ and notably, Stephen Spielberg’s ‘Temple of Doom’. In 1903, photographer A.W. Andree, of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, was the first Ceylonese to form a local film company – Coric Bioscope. Having acquired a projector from abroad and gained access to an auditorium he began to screen silent films from Europe.
The jury of the festival include Marc Gareton (President), Douglas Montgomery, Carlos Sanchez, Oscar Gutierrez, Isabelle Carpentier, Shanshan Sun and Claude Gagnon.
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