In the sixties the film industry developed to produce some interesting work, which were received very well by the local audiences. Some of the films were refreshingly original. Titus Totawatte, G.D.L Perera, and Gamini Fonseka were some of the main contributors of quality cinema along with Leaster James Perirs in the sixties. In many ways it was the golden era of Sri Lankan cinema.

The seventies and the early eighties saw a boom in the film industry in terms of the quantity of films churned out by the local producers. Film distribution was handed over to the newly formed government body, National Film Corporation. It had the monopoly in the five national circuits of film exhibition. Introduction of television and the open economy in the late seventies was a double blow for the local film industry, which flourished under import restrictions. Dharmasena Pathiraja and Vasantha Obeysekera emerged as the most outstanding filmmakers of this period. Their films won critical acclaim in and outside of Sri Lanka.

After 1977, with the introduction of open economic policies, restriction on Indian and western films were lifted and the population was exposed to a variety of alternative entertainment on numerous television channels. The beginning of the civil war in 1983, and the tight security. Majority of the cinemas in the country still does not have late night programes.

The commercial cinema was mainly hit by the new circumstances because the people were able to see the Indian or Hollywood original of the films they were reversioning for the local audience. Many local commercial producers turned to making soft porn films to lure youngsters away from their living rooms to the cinemas. This became successful to an extent, but was not enough to sustain a regular audience for cinema. Occasional quality film still drew more crowds than the overtly commercial formula films.

Most Remarkable change in the nineties is due to the arrival of young filmmakers with a vision and dedication. Prasanna Vithanage is the pioneer in this generation .He is a filmmaker who was not afraid to face new challenges. Prasanna is a perfectionist who paid equal attention to the aesthetic and technical aspect of cinema. As a result, his uncompromising approach to the craft was quickly recognized by the outside world. Prasanna's fourth film, Pura Handa Kaluwara (Death On a Full Moon Day), won the Grand Prix at the Amiens International Film Festival in France.

Along with Asoka Handagama, who is beginning show maturity as a filmmaker, Prasanna remains to be the pioneer of the emerging new wave of Sri Lanakan cinema. They have to look in to the future with a world audience in mind. The authorities have named Pura Handa Kaluwara under the military censorship. In a country at war with itself, many of the artistes remain to ignore the war to avoid confrontation with the power that rules. Today the Sri Lankan audiences have lost the opportunity to see the film, which is the most seen ever outside of the island.

Many media institutions and opinion makers seem to give tacit approval to the tyranny and the rapid militarysation of the contemporary society of Sri Lanka. They fail to raise a voice against draconian censorship laws. Instead they are busy justifying the prevailing hypocrisy and indulging in self-censorship. It has become the sole purpose of creativity of a handful to work to keep the sanity of the entire country.

Priyath Liyange