Remembering Pathi, the radical and the revolutionist
Dr. Dharmasena Pathiraja, whose name comes next to that of Dr. Lester James Peries, the pioneer filmmaker in the Sri Lankan cinema industry, ended his creative journey on January 28, 2018. However this giant in cinema who is also fondly called as ‘Dr. Pathi’ will never be forgotten for the radical and revolutionary path he took in filmmaking.
Dr. Pathi entered cinema in the 1970s pioneering a powerful new genre in filmmaking that captured the social upheaval and political turbulences prevailed in the era. He directed ‘Ahas Gawwa’ (One League of Sky) and started a completely novel journey in the island’s cinema.
Towards the end of his career he made ‘Swaroopa’ (Self Image), a story based on world renowned Franz Kafka’s story ‘Metamorphosis’. Converting Kafka’s novel to a cinematic endeavour was one of the major challenge any filmmaker could have taken.
His last film was ‘Sakkarang’, based on a novel by Chamminda Welagedara of the same title, set in the hill country during the Kandian kingdom.
The first death anniversary of this remarkable filmmaker will be marked with a special talk by Prof. Liyanage Amarakeerthi at 4 pm on January 28 at the National Film Corporation. Following the talk, one of Dr. Pathiraja’s landmark films ‘Paradige’ will be screened.