TV Times

TV Times

18 year birthday bash for Bonsoir
The popular French TV magazine, ‘Bonsoir’, celebrates its eighteenth anniversary in July 2003 and thus, becomes one of the longest running television programmes in Sri Lanka.

This is going to be special year for ‘Bonsoir’ because later in the year, it will also celebrate its 1st anniversary on the Channel EYE of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. The Bonsoir programme is telecast on every Monday at 9.30 pm on Channel EYE.

“Its mission is to act as a window on France and French culture. Therefore, the weekly programmes cover a vast range of subjects such as art, profiles of interesting people, customs, technology, cuisine and special events.” said Pamudi Withanaarachchi, the co-ordinator and one of the producers of this popular mtv magazine.

To portrait the role that France plays in the European Union, Bonsoir also features European issues such as education, health care, technology and social issues. In order to fulfill its role as a program of cultural exchange, a Sri Lankan personality / event/issue is also featured on almost all its programmes. Reflecting the cultural cooperation between the two countries, the red, blue and white colours of the Bonsoir logo represent France, while the elephant represents Sri Lanka.

“We are really glad to be on Channel EYE”, says the Bonsoir team. “Not does it allow us to reach a wider public, but its also offers a wide range of educational programs that attempt to open our eyes to the world outside. Moreover, the team at EYE Channel is pleasant to work with, communicative, supportive and open to new ideas and, those are the qualities required for a fruitful collaboration”.

The present production team consists of people from diverse backgrounds, Yasmin Rajapakse has been with Bonsoir from the beginning, the producer/presenter pair Sumaya Samarasinghe and Aminta Paiva were formerly colleagues in a private TV Channel. Dillini Jayamanne is a Humanities undergraduate at the Peradeniya University and Maneshka Silva, the youngest member, works as a producer/documentalist while studying for her Bachelor degree. Gaya Nagahawatta is into photography and drama and Kumar de Silva, a known TV presenter is also very important figure.

The programme is edited by Manjula Dharmakeerthi, a multi-talented editor and co-ordinated by Pamudi Withdanarachchi, who also produces programmes for Bonsoir.

“The interaction among people from diverse backgrounds plays a significant role in producing programs on varied themes. Sri Lankan audiences today have the chance of seeing TV programs produced in various countries. In such a dynamic audiovisual background, the variety in our themes, styles and presentation helps greatly to retain our current audience and to attract new viewers.

With the rise in literacy level and education, the Sri Lankan public today is more aware of new developments and trends in the world outside. The ultimate objective of our team is to inform and educate this growing educated public about the varied aspects of the role that France plays in Europe and in the whole world and to allow them to experience a journey through the fascinating land that it is”said Pamudi. Monday at 9.30 p.m. on Channel EYE

Back to TV Times