National Film Corporation’s freshly built theatre was swarming with movie enthusiasts on January 21 to give ear to Satischandra Edirisinghe’s thoughts on Sinhala Cinema. With Sinhala cinema turning 62, Edirisinghe is able to sit back with the industry’s seasoned generation.
The evening stirred exotic memories of a classic era with both Satischandra’s filmic thoughts and Tissa Nagodavithana’s lengthy documentary that scanned the local reel from 1947 to 1968.
Satis, as he is fondly nicknamed in the art circle, was Judas in Christu Charitaya, ‘The Christ’, co-starring Vijaya Kumaratunga. His superb performance as the legendary character epitomizes the biblical betrayal. Tissa Nagodavithana’s initials intrude on the beauty of old hits. This is however a drop in the ocean thinking of Nagodavithana’s unsurpassed contribution by preserving the old classics.
Satis likened the cinema history to Mahawamsa account of Lanka. Mahawamsa does not traverse beyond Kuveni’s era. What Kuveni was occupied with when Vijaya landed in, gives a hint on an uncharted rich history.
The Sinhala cinema, in the same track, would not have had Kadavunu Poronduwa, the Broken Promise, just fallen from the skies. Satis took the grandstand back to 1930s, that era when the Leftist hardliner Dr N M Perera performed in Rajakeeya Vikramaya, the ‘Royal Adventure’. It is the bygone tale of a conspiracy of film burned to ashes in India.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to have the cinema inaugurated with ‘Royal Adventure’ rather than ‘Broken Promise’? But we had to face the inevitable.”
Broken Promise, positively or negatively, stepped into Sinhala cinema for record’s sake. It created history, which should be studied before kicking around future. When Dudley Senanayake ruled the country, those were Satis’ young days. Some movie magnates had seen Senanayake to have a talk on cinema developments.
The Premier had the nerve to say that he had more important things to think of than cinema, and of course he paid the price for being that blunt: his opponent Mrs. B. had the blessings of the country’s arts scene. Satis’ stage whispers are all this and then some.
Satis then started on a school for performance. “I remember how the late Professor Sarachchandra kept on penning and speaking about a school for performance. We are a decade ahead of his death, and still we talk about a school.”
Satis had something for Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma as well: mini-theatres. “I have seen many foreign stations having mini-theatres with a large wall clock for people keep watch on train schedules. You can take left-behind cabins for this purpose. You can show old movies too. In a way it ensures passenger safety.”
The documentary on cinema history should have been a better production, while Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa, Consultant T M Sanghadasa and Tissa Nagodavithana should have a pat on back for the effort.
The documentary kicked off with a fascinating scene from the 62-year old Kadavunu Poronduwa, and was on for well over two hours with film chunks up to 1968. Documentary should have easily covered the movie timeline up to 2008; only if the number of films a year were cut down and some episodes were shortened. So much the better if a few minutes were offered to Dr. Lester James Peries’ Rekhava as well.
The souvenir issued by the corporation to commemorate the anniversary is a resourceful guide with rare information provided by Nuwan Nayanajith. The back cover brings in the new era’s symbol for 2009 with its portrayal of Sanath Gunathilake’s latest movie Ekamath Eka Rataka, ‘Once upon a country’.
Corporation’s Consultant T M Sanghadasa made a few references to Mahinda Chinthana’s cinema policies. Businessmen burdened with annual tax over Rs. 2-lakhs will be relieved when they invest on a film production, is one option.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/01/26/fea20.asp
Monday
Cuba’s golden jubilee of independence
Film was the bread for the revolutionaries against the old order in Cuba. Ultimately it turned out the reveille for a new era that dawned exactly 50 years ago on January 1. Enthusiastic diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka were hot on the heels.
A film festival heads off from today at 4.30 till January 17 at 5pm everyday for the two nations to toast the golden jubilee. The Cuban Embassy and Sri Lanka – Cuba Friendship have made the festival arrangements at Russian Cultural centre to screen the films free of charge with Sinhala subtitles. As Cuban Ambassador Nirsia Castro Guevara weighs up, a good deal of the six films featured in the festival echo the nation’s everlasting revolutionary themes.
The first film ‘Fidel’ is a documentary about Fidel Castro with the coverage of Cuban revolution’s 40 years. It has a rare footage of the ex-Cuban leader’s life such as live moments with the Spanish legend Gabriel García Marquez. ‘Benny More’ narrates a musician’s life wedged between his own ideologies and the real life needs.
The third film ‘The Revolution’, aka ‘Revolucion’, is an hour-long documentary conveying the legacy of people and culture in Cuba. ‘Viva Cuba’, a story about two childhood friends, has clinched accolades in numbers. ‘Scent of Oak’ features an encounter between a beautiful black woman and a romantic German merchant filled with intolerance, incomprehension and love. ‘Che Guevara’ is the biopic titled after one of the key figures in the Cuban revolution.
Brothers Louis Jean and Auguste Marie Lumiere fuelled the celebrated cinema in Cuba. The Cuban cinema journeyed throughout American capitals before stepping into Havana in 1897. ‘Panorama Soler’ and ‘Salon de variedades o ilusiones opticas’ are two major locations set up for the Cuban films. The first in a long list of movie theatres in Havana was set by José A. Casasús, actor, producer and entrepreneur, under the name of ‘Floradora’; it was later renamed ‘Alaska’.
The Cuban cinema marked its position in the show business within the first six year before the World War I. However that memory has a twinge of sympathy as the cinema banked heavily on Hollywood in its initial days of instituting the position.
The infant era of the full length cinema shows a tendency to adapt literary works for movies. This followed the imitation of Chaplin, French comedies and cowboy adventure. With the revolution coming to a halt in a triumphant note in 1959, the newly formed Castro Government founded a cinematography department to take care of productions and documentaries. Critics take in this period as the golden era of the Cuban cinema. Humberto Solas’ ‘Lucia’ and Tomas Gutierrez Alea’s ‘Memorias del Subdesarrollo’ stimulated the mass conscience, and they are considered the best in the country, out of question.
‘Fresa y Chocolate’ is the most recent insightful film directed in 1993. The plot goes about intolerance and friendship between a gay and a unionist. It was the first ever Cuban film to attract a nomination in Oscars.
Documentaries and short films have been the bread and butter in Cuban cinema for the last 40 years. The first documentary ‘Now’ combines a song with an uninterrupted sequence of images digging in the prejudice in US animation. Juan Padron’s formation of Elpidio Valdes, a mambi fighter, became well-liked among Cuban children. Padron’s next movie called ‘Vampiros en La Habana’ also appealed the young crowd.
Cuba also provides accommodation for International School of Cinema, Television and Video. International Festival of the New Latin-American Cinema is celebrated every year in Havana since 1979.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/01/12/fea10.asp
A film festival heads off from today at 4.30 till January 17 at 5pm everyday for the two nations to toast the golden jubilee. The Cuban Embassy and Sri Lanka – Cuba Friendship have made the festival arrangements at Russian Cultural centre to screen the films free of charge with Sinhala subtitles. As Cuban Ambassador Nirsia Castro Guevara weighs up, a good deal of the six films featured in the festival echo the nation’s everlasting revolutionary themes.
The first film ‘Fidel’ is a documentary about Fidel Castro with the coverage of Cuban revolution’s 40 years. It has a rare footage of the ex-Cuban leader’s life such as live moments with the Spanish legend Gabriel García Marquez. ‘Benny More’ narrates a musician’s life wedged between his own ideologies and the real life needs.
The third film ‘The Revolution’, aka ‘Revolucion’, is an hour-long documentary conveying the legacy of people and culture in Cuba. ‘Viva Cuba’, a story about two childhood friends, has clinched accolades in numbers. ‘Scent of Oak’ features an encounter between a beautiful black woman and a romantic German merchant filled with intolerance, incomprehension and love. ‘Che Guevara’ is the biopic titled after one of the key figures in the Cuban revolution.
Brothers Louis Jean and Auguste Marie Lumiere fuelled the celebrated cinema in Cuba. The Cuban cinema journeyed throughout American capitals before stepping into Havana in 1897. ‘Panorama Soler’ and ‘Salon de variedades o ilusiones opticas’ are two major locations set up for the Cuban films. The first in a long list of movie theatres in Havana was set by José A. Casasús, actor, producer and entrepreneur, under the name of ‘Floradora’; it was later renamed ‘Alaska’.
The Cuban cinema marked its position in the show business within the first six year before the World War I. However that memory has a twinge of sympathy as the cinema banked heavily on Hollywood in its initial days of instituting the position.
The infant era of the full length cinema shows a tendency to adapt literary works for movies. This followed the imitation of Chaplin, French comedies and cowboy adventure. With the revolution coming to a halt in a triumphant note in 1959, the newly formed Castro Government founded a cinematography department to take care of productions and documentaries. Critics take in this period as the golden era of the Cuban cinema. Humberto Solas’ ‘Lucia’ and Tomas Gutierrez Alea’s ‘Memorias del Subdesarrollo’ stimulated the mass conscience, and they are considered the best in the country, out of question.
‘Fresa y Chocolate’ is the most recent insightful film directed in 1993. The plot goes about intolerance and friendship between a gay and a unionist. It was the first ever Cuban film to attract a nomination in Oscars.
Documentaries and short films have been the bread and butter in Cuban cinema for the last 40 years. The first documentary ‘Now’ combines a song with an uninterrupted sequence of images digging in the prejudice in US animation. Juan Padron’s formation of Elpidio Valdes, a mambi fighter, became well-liked among Cuban children. Padron’s next movie called ‘Vampiros en La Habana’ also appealed the young crowd.
Cuba also provides accommodation for International School of Cinema, Television and Video. International Festival of the New Latin-American Cinema is celebrated every year in Havana since 1979.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/01/12/fea10.asp
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