‘Gehenu Lamai’ resurrected with French support to be premiered at Cannes Fest 2025
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Rémi Lambert, French Ambassador to Sri Lanka
Sumithra Peries’ acclaimed debut ‘Gehenu Lamai’ (1978) restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with the ‘Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation’ (LJPSPF) has been selected for a world premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2025.
A triumph for Sri Lanka’s film heritage, the film has been restored under the aegis of FISLCH: France- India – Sri Lanka Cine Heritage – Saving Film Across Borders – a pioneering international collaboration between Film Heritage Foundation, the French Institute in India and the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, dedicated to restoring and preserving cinematic heritage.
Awarded the Outstanding Film of the Year at the 1978 London Film Festival, the film tells the story of two young sisters in a Sri Lankan village, whose romantic dreams and aspirations are crushed by the class barrier and the conflict between tradition and progress.
Restored by Film Heritage Foundation at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with the LJPSPF, the funding for the commendable endeavour was provided by a grant under the aegis of FISCH.
‘Gehenu Lamai’ was restored using the best surviving elements: the 35 mm combined dupe negative and two 35 mm release prints preserved at the National Film Corporation (NFC) of Sri Lanka.
The idea of a restoration project began in 2018 when Shivendra Singh Dungarpur from Film Heritage Foundation visited Colombo as a part of a film rescue mission within various film storage spaces. During this visit, Sumithra Peries discussed the possibility of restoring some of her films, including ‘Gehenu Lamai’.
Sumithra Peries
‘Fortunately, there were surviving film elements of ‘Gehenu Lamai’ preserved at the National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka that were shipped to L’Immagine Ritrovata, the film restoration lab in Bologna, Italy’ stated in a statement issued by French Embassy in Colombo.
‘I had a very close personal relationship with Lester James Peries and Sumitra. I still remember the day Sumitra Peries gave me a DVD of ‘Gehenu Lamai’ with her handwritten notes. I watched the film and I could see why she was called the Poetess of Sri Lankan cinema. I was so moved by the poetic imagery of the film and the assured delicacy with which she handled the fragile emotions of the young actors. It was hard to believe that it was her debut film’ said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation.
On inspection at the Film Heritage Foundation archive and at the lab in Bologna, the conservators discovered that the condition of the reels varied from average to poor to critical with several reels exhibiting tears, broken sprockets, blockage, shrinkage, emulsion damage, buckling and warping. Several hours were spent on the film repair – repairing damaged perforations and tears and redoing tape splices to prepare it for scanning which was done in 4K.
In the film comparison stage, the lab found that one of the positives was the vintage release of the Sri Lankan version that had additional shots and this positive was used as a guide for the restored version. Although second generation, the dupe negative had the best photographic quality, but had embedded subtitles. The lower photographic contrast of the dupe negative allowed to recover more details and hence it was used as a main element for restoration. Hours of work went into the digital restoration to correct distortions and recover the image as faithfully as possible.
The sound restoration was particularly challenging. The quality of the sound was generally low and varied with issues such as click, crackle, hiss, gaps and damaged optical sound tracks that rendered the sound inaudible in parts, high electrical noise and distortion.
‘In choosing to restore Gehenu Lamai, directorial debut of Sumithra Peries, we sought not only to safeguard a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s film history, but also to bring a masterpiece of women’s storytelling back into the light’ Rémi Lambert, French Ambassador to Sri Lanka stated.
‘The choice felt obvious: what stronger symbol than to restore such an essential cinematic landmark which showcases Sri Lanka women’s cultural heritage, all the more so as it was directed by an artist who was, quite literally, an ambassador of Franco–Sri Lankan relations’ the Ambassador explained. He thanked the dedication and expertise of Film Heritage Foundation, which took on the challenge of restoring the film and giving it a new life.
‘France is honoured to stand with Sri Lanka in preserving its rich cinematic heritage. This lies at the heart of our cultural commitment: preserving the arts and their memory. A film is made to be seen; not to sleep on reels, but to live on screen. The spotlight on Sri Lankan cinema at Cannes this year is a source of pride, but we also hope to see ‘Gehenu Lamai’ return to Sri Lankan silver screen soon, where it can resonate once more in the hearts for which it was first created’ he added.
‘What concerned me at the time was the condition of the film elements and I hoped that we would be able to restore the film before it was too late. I was delighted when the opportunity arose thanks to a grant from the French Government through the French Embassy in India, the French Institute in India and the French Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Maldives that enabled me to choose this film to be restored under the aegis of the grant. The restoration was incredibly difficult and we had to work with three different elements of the film to bring ‘Gehenu Lamai’ back to its original glory. I only wish that Sumitra Peries was there with us to see the film’ said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.
-(SRF)
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