TV Times

TV Times

Sri Lankan directors in Cairo Jury
By Susitha R. Fernando
Two veteran film directors Dharmasiri Pathiraja and Tissa Abeysekera will be in the jury of 16th Cairo International Film Festival for Children this year.
The National Film Corporation (NFC) had nominated the two Sri Lankan filmmakers on the request made by film festival organizing committee. The children's film festival will be held from March 2 to March 9, 2006. The two filmmakers will leave for Egypt on February 28.

Dharmasena Pathiraja had earlier participated in the juries of Melbourne International Film Festival 2000 and was the chairman in the jury of Singapore International Film Festival 2002. "There were several other film festivals like Indian International Film Festival-2001 for I was invited for the jury but couldn't participate due various reasons," Mr. Pathiraja said speaking to the TV Times.

Dharmasiri Pathiraja a teacher of cinema, was a lecturer in the Colombo University and presently attached to the Government Film Unit. Credited with introducing a critical, experimental, alternative cinema to Sri Lanka, based on a politically conscious social realism his classic feature films include Ahas Gauvwa, Eya Dan Loku Lamayek (Coming of Age), Bambaru Avith (The Wasps Are Here), Ponmani (Younger Sister), Para Dige (Along the Road) and Soldadu Unnahe (Mr. Soldier).

Experienced scriptwriter and director, Tissa Abeysekera was in the jury of Kerala International Film Festival 2002. Award winning writer, media critic, film scriptwriter and a director of both documentaries and feature films, he is best known for his screenplay of Lester James Peries' Nidhanaya (The Treasure) and his own film Viragaya (1987), which is one of the four highest grossing films of all time in Sri Lanka. Absolutely competent in both Sinhalese and English, Mr. Abeysekera won the Gratien Prize for Sri Lankan writing in English in 1998 and is currently is the director of Sri Lanka Television Training Institute (SLTTI).

Sri Lanka will also be in the limelight at this year's Cairo Film Festival for Children with the screening of Somaratne Dissanayake's "Samanala Thatu" (Butterfly Wings). The film will be screened at the international film section.
The Cairo International film festival for children was started with the aim to sustain and encourage the artistically appreciated films and programs interested in world problems of children and youth in all levels (local and international).

The Festival's has two international juries, one for feature and short films and the other for TV. Each jury will include experts from all over the world. The two juries will attribute three prizes to the best three films in each category of the competition. The awards are named as Golden Cairo, Silver Cairo and Bronze Cairo.

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