Sri Lankan Cinema comes of age

All areas of social cultural and political aspects of the island nation of Sri Lanka are influenced by its giant neighbour, India. Relationship between India and its southern neighbour was similar to that of Britain and the rest of the continent. They seem very similar but different at the same time. Cinema is no exception. Sri Lankan cinema grew constantly trying to fight this influence with one hand while embracing it with the other

Cinema in Sri Lanka was born with "Rajakeeya Wickramaya" (Royal adventure) which was made in 1925. The film was made in India and was shown in Singapore. Then it was mysteriously destroyed. The Sri lankan had to wait till 1947 to see the first Sri Lankan film in a local language, "Kadawunu Poronduwa" (The Broken Promise.) This was a film made in India, with Indian technicians.

Introduction of cinema revolutionized urban entertainment. The Sinhala Speaking majority turned away from theatre to go and see the movies which were coming out in their own language. Most of the films were made in the studios in south India with stories, sets, technicians and even director who were Indian. Evan the songs were sung by Indian artists with Sinhala words to the tune of the original Hindi or Tamil song.

The emergence of Sri Lanakan cinema coincides with the transfer of power from the imperialists to the local bourgeoisie in 1948. The following year, Sirisena Wimalaweera released his first film, Amma (Mother). Wimalaweera wanted to distance Sinhala cinema from the profound influence it had from South India. His campaign was for an indigenous cinema with local cast and crew. He not only made films, but also campaigned for a purer form of sinhala cinema. His followers rejected the Indian influence and glorified what they saw as Sinhala heritage. Many films, even Songs, of this era, ended up being chauvinistic propaganda.

This period also marks the clear division between the commercial cinema, and more serious cinema. Sinhala Buddhist nationalism culminated in 1956, by electing the nationalist leader S.W.R.D Bandranayake as the prime minister of the island. This year saw many significant changes in the social and cultural scene in the country. Young documentary filmmaker, Lester James Peiris released his first feature Rekawa (The Line of Destiny). For the first time, the entire film was shot on location and the subject matter did not involve a love story. This was also the first film to represent Sri Lanka in an International Film festival.

Lester was the pioneering filmmaker to bring Sri Lankan cinema to the outside world. His Gamperaliya (Changing Village) won the grand Prix at Delhi international Film festival, and Nidhanaya (Treasure) was selected to the competition in the Venice international film festival. With a trail of triumphs and some failures, Lester still remains to be the master of serious cinema in the country. Continue