New Imperial Talkies founder remembered
View(s):The fourth death anniversary of Mr. Hans Anton van Starex, who was the owner of the New Imperial Talkies, one of the pioneering film exhibitors in Sri Lanka was commemorated recently.
Marking the death anniversary, a documentary short film titled ‘Unseen Imperial’ (Nodutu Imperial), created by Malintha Imalka Withanage, undergraduate attached to the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Peradeniya was screened at Kurunegala Imperial theatre on September 27.
The commemoration was participated by former General Manager of New Imperial Talkies Company, Anuradha B. Rakeva, Former accountant Susil Jayasekara, old employees of New Imperial Talkies Company and current employees of the three Imperial Theatres (Kurunegala, Ratnapura and Yatiyantota) and a number of guests participated at the event.
The special guest lecture was given by Aruna Gunaratne, the former editor of the Sarasavi newspaper, who has always been loyal to the Imperial Company.
Started as the New Imperial Touring Cinema Company, the name was later changed to the New Imperial Talkies Company. It was famous not only for film screenings but also for importing projectors, equipment and spare parts for them. New Imperial Talkies also served Sri Lankan cinema fans by bringing down foreign films and also presenting two popular Sinhala films ‘Sikuru Hathe’ and ‘Paha Samath’ to Sri Lankan cinema.
Earlier there were 28 New Imperial theatres across the country.
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