
Well- deserved recognition
Titus Totawatte and Willie Blake are among the pioneers who helped put
Sinhala cinema on the right track. They were in Dr. Lester James Peries'
team who made Rekava, a landmark in the history of local cinema. Both of
them were recognised at this year's Presidential Film Awards with 'Golden
Lion' lifetime awards being given in recognition of their contribution
to cinema.
Willie Blake came all the way from Canada, where he is now domiciled,
to be personally present at the awards ceremony. Titus, though not as active
as he was a few years ago, has been concentrating more on the small screen
and has contributed immensely particularly in the field of dubbing quality
foreign features into Sinhala.
Leaving the Government Film Unit in the early fifties with Lester James
Peries, Titus was responsible for editing 'Rekava'. He was involved in
a number of quality films of the early era - 'Sandesaya', 'Ran Muthu Duwa',
'Getawarayo' and 'Parasathu Mal'.
He then turned to direction and his first film, 'Chandiya' was a new
experience for filmgoers. He also directed two other quality films, 'Haralakshaya'
(based on the famous Turf Club robbery) and 'Maruwa Samage Waase' (the
story of the notorious criminal Maru Sira).
He is, of course, best remembered for the first Sinhala children's film,
'Handaya' which won international acclaim too.
At a time when filmgoers were accustomed to Sinhala films done inside
South Indian film studios, Willie Blake took his camera out of the studio
and filmed 'Rekawa' totally on location. For the first time local filmgoers
had authentic footage they could identify with. |