34TH SARASAVIYA AWARDS SALUTES TO THE LEGACY OF DR JAMES PERIES SACHITRA MAHENDRA hen the 45-year old journalist who had already made his career as a filmmaker entered WAsoka Hall in 1964, he sensed the limelight. He was a mere Lester James Peries with no credentials to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe hands over a special Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe reminiscing the his name. Yet he could reach for many trophies with award to Dr Lester James Peries’ wife, Sumitra Peries. first Sarasaviya Awards Festival. much ease. The limelight was soon to be in his favour. The strange turn of fate brought another audience member who was only 20 years back then. 54 years Distinguished audience later, he graced the occasion as the country’s Prime Minister to recall how things unfolded back then a few metres away from the conventional VIP lecture pedestal. The 34th Cargills Sarasaviya Film Festival, held at the BMICH on August 3, was themed to pay tribute to Dr Lester James Peries. Dr Peries is known not only for his meteoric rise to the ecclesiastical echelons of local cinema but also for the illumed presence right through- out the Sarasaviya Film Festival chronology. BEST DIRECTOR AND SCRIPTWRITER OF 2016, SPECIAL JURY AWARD RECIPIENT, The country’s oldest film festival returned to the SHAMEERA RANGANA NAOTUNNA (MOTOR BICYCLE) Sarasvathi performance PRASANNA VITHANAGE (USAVIYA NIHANDAI DOCUMENTARY). stellar gallery following a brief spell of absence. The return was not easy as quite a few festivals have already joined the ring to steal the show. The Sarasaviya fest was nevertheless armed with superior weaponry. The cultural BEST ACTRESS OF 2016, BEST ACTRESS OF 2017, segments were choreographed meticulously with a sub- PUJA UMASHANKAR (SARIGAMA) SAMANALEE FONSEKA (PREMAYA NAM) tle aesthetic sense. The souvenir issued to coincide with the ceremony remains unique and would last for at least a century. The 3D revival of Dr Peries bidding his farewell (with his voice aired in the background) is simply mind- boggling. As two armchairs sink to the ground and the lamp- shades evaporate into thin air, the traditional ancestral mansion setting fades into oblivion to pave the path for Saman Athaudahetti compering the ceremony. contemporary upholstery on the BMICH stage. With Chairman of the Panel of Judges Gamini Weragama that, the players come to the fore to breathe life into the handing over the winners to Sarasaviya Editor much-celebrated short narrative which made a long way to Aruna Gunaratne. Sarasaviya Former Editor Deep- the much-talked-about film, Nidanaya (The Treasure). The thi Fonseka looks on. creative stimulus of Lester James Peries and Tissa Abey- sekara was deconstructed into a ballet-like tale. The souvenir was devoted to the memory of Dr Lester James Peries. It is unique on several grounds. The souvenir which is, in fact, a coffee-table book, compiled by Dr RENUKA BALASURIYA ACCEPTING THE BEST ACTRESS AWARD OF 2016 Nuvan Nayanajith Kumara and Hemali Wijeratne, provides ON BEHALF OF GAYANI GISANTHIKA (SARIGAMA) a comprehensive account of the Lester James Peries fil- mography with no eye-sore advertisements in between. In his lifetime, Dr Peries often stressed the MALITH HEGODA AND MALAKA DEVAPRIYA need for a film archive. The coffee-table book is one RECEIVING THE SPECIAL AWARDS FOR THEIR FILMS DEKALA PURUDU KENEK AND BAHUCHITAVADIYA step taken in that long journey. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, flanked by other eminent invitees, presented a special award to Sumitra Peries for her lifelong inspi- ration on Dr Lester James Peries in his epic BEST DIRECTOR OF 2017, PRASANNA JAYAKODY (28) journey. The panel of judges (chaired by Gamini Weragama) was tasked with watching close to 50 films to handpick the best works of 2016 and 2017. The Sarasaviya 2018 had a special focus on most films overlooked at other festivals. Sayapethi Kusuma, Dekala Purudu Kenek and Bahuchitavadiya were among the host of lesser known, yet artistically ingenious, works intro- duced to the spotlight thanks to the jury SPECIAL JURY AWARD, attention. RITHIKA KODITHUWAKKU (EGE ASA AGA) The award for Best Actor for 2016 went to Dasun Pathirana and Best Actress for 2016 to Pooja Umashankar who received their awards from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Samanali Fonseka was adjudged the Best Actress for 2017 and Saumya Liyanage was Best Actor for 2017. Boodee Keerthisena accept- ed the award on behalf of Liyanage. Media and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Deputy Minister Lasan- tha Alagiyawanna, Managing Direc- tor of Cargills Ranjit Page, ANCL Sumitra Peries Chairman Krishantha Prasad Cooray, Editorial Director Chandrasiri Senevi- ratne and Sarasaviya Editor Aruna Gunaratne were present. The Cargills Sarasaviya Film Awards was organised by ‘Sarasavi- ya’, the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited’s cinema weekly, PICTURES BY Chinthaka Kumarasinghe, Tilak Perera, Marlon with Cargills, Sri Lanka’s leading retail and FMCG company. Karunaratne, Rukmal Gamage, Samantha Weerasinghe, Vipula Amarasinghe, Saliya Rupasinghe, Shan Rup- Ballet interpretation pasara, Shan Rambukwella and Nisshanka Wijeratne to the Nidhanaya movie plot. .