Plus

Plus

Kala Korner - by Dee Cee

Talking for half a century
There has been talk about setting up a film archive for nearly five decades. It was in the late 1950s that the doyen of Sri Lankan cinema, Dr. Lester James Peries first spoke about the need to have a film archive to preserve Sinhala films and other relevant material relating to the local industry. The topic has been discussed and debated over and over again but sweet nothing has happened.

It came up once again at the recent launch of young Nuwan Nayanajith Kumara's book on the history of Sri Lankan cinema. "We have been talking about a film archive for many decades. But nothing has happened," lamented veteran actor Joe Abeywickrema, who congratulated the young man for fulfilling at least the initial task towards it by putting out in print a comprehensive history of the local cinema. Cultural Minister Vijitha Herath preferred to avoid the issue and was non-committal in his short address. Everyone was wondering why the National Film Corporation had not taken up this vital issue.

Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne, in his keynote address, paid a tribute to Tissa Nagodavitane who has done a wonderful job over the years collecting old Sinhala films. "His house is full of old reels. You can find them even under the beds," he said. The short film screened at the book launch with Tissa's material gave a glimpse of the early days and brought back fond memories to many.

As for Nuwan's publication, the cover mentions that it had been printed and published by H. D. Premasiri. Many know him as the quiet, publicity-shy proprietor of Sarasavi Publications. Nuwan had insisted that his name appears on the cover for his generous gesture in undertaking the publication at a cost of over a million rupees. "And I know he is not going to make money on it," Nuwan quipped.

Revealing standards
In his speech, Sunil Ariyaratne touched on the level of general knowledge among the youngsters of today. He quoted a few revelations of a recent survey. Though he did not mention from where the group was, one could gather it was a group of undergraduates. To them, Munidasa Cumaratunga was the father of Vijaya and Jeevan Kumaratunga, Chitrasena was a 'yaksha' during the time of Prince Vijaya, Wally Bastian (the baila singer) was the first Portuguese to land in Ceylon,'Kama Sutra' was written by Sunil T. Fernando (he is the producer of several Sinhala films including one with that title)and proctor John de Silva, the creator of the renowned Tower Hall dramas was the one involved with the Turf Club robbery.

Back to Plus