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Kala Korner - by Dee Cee

Shot at Academy Awards!
Will Sri Lanka score a 'first' by getting a Sinhala film nominated for the Academy Awards? If at all, it will be 'Wekande Walauwe' (Mansion by the Lake) - the highly acclaimed creation by Dr. Lester James Peries. After the most favourable responses that the film has received wherever it was shown in the international festival circuit, producers Chandran Rutnam and Asoka Perera are hopeful that it stands a good chance of getting selected into the foreign films category.

The producers feel that the selection of the film for the New York film festival this month, makes its chances of being accepted for the Academy Awards bright since the selection criteria for the New York festival is quite tough. It is after seeing the best in other festivals that 20 selections are made for the New York event.

To clear the first hurdle for entry to the Academy Awards 'Wekande Walauwe' had to be screened in Sri Lanka for at least a week. That's how filmgoers got a chance of seeing it at the Empire before the formal release for which the dates are still not known. (Tomorrow is the last day of the 'limited engagement'). While we wait, the film is running in four cinemas in France including one in Paris - a rare happening for a Sinhala film.

At Edinburgh
Meanwhile, at the Edinburgh Festival, the film was described as "a pastoral elegy inspired by Anton Chekhov's 'The Cherry Orchard' set in rural Sri Lanka in the late 1980's".

"Peries' last film was the 1984 'End of An Era', and that title, with its graceful acknowledgement of the passing of time and the ineluctable force of history could apply equally well to this one. Though it features entirely original dialogue and makes no attempt to transpose the Russian names or characters from the original, it nevertheless proves an accurate adaptation of Chekhov's classic - perhaps because, though separated by a century, the sensibilities of these two creators are so closely aligned.

(Both are humanists, preoccupied with the small, telling gesture.) Classically shot and delicately scored, it's a work of serene beauty and extraordinary humanity, reminiscent of mid-period Satyajit Ray - a film that, in making no concessions to modern tastes, seems to exist outside of time altogether. Sadly, it may prove to be the final masterpiece from this inexplicably underrated master", the review said.
When I asked Lester whether he intends saying goodbye to filmmaking, he said, "Even if I wanted to, now I feel I shouldn't." He is quite keen to do another film. In fact, he has some broad idea on what his next creation would be and intends sitting down to working on a script soon.

Latest from Sumitra
While waiting for the release of 'Wekande Walauwe', Lester has done the screenplay for wife Sumitra's latest effort ', 'Sakman Maluwa' based on a short story by Godfrey Gunatilleka. She has done it at the request of Ceylon Theatres to mark the 75th anniversary of the pioneering film company in Sri Lanka.

The film is almost ready for release with Sumitra busy giving the final touches. With Sanath Gunatilleka and Kanchana Mendis playing the lead roles, she is also impressed with the performance of newcomer Dinindu, son of veteran dramatist Dhamma Jagoda who met with an untimely death a few years back. "With absolutely no experience in acting, he has done quite well,” Sumitra says.

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