Third Annual Lester James Peries Oration
Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne will be the chief guest at the third
annual Lester James Peries Oration at the BMICH on June 15 at 5 p.m.
The guest of honour will be the Ambassador for France in Sri Lanka
and the Maldives, Mrs. Christine Robichon. The event is open to the
public.
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Lester James Peries |
Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne will speak on 'Songs of Lester-Sumitra Cinema'
while Lakshman Joseph de Saram will speak on 'Music and the Moving
Image'.
Senior professor of the Sinhala Language, Mass Media and
Communication Faculty, Sri Jayewardenepura University, Prof. Sunil
Ariyaratne is also an acclaimed film director, lyricist, poet and an
indefatigable researcher on the less familiar aspects of Sinhala
literature and culture for which he has also won State Literary awards.
Prof Ariyaratne shot to fame as a director with his second film
Sarungale (1979) and has, in a film career spanning 34 years, directed
19 films, many of which have been highly acclaimed and award-winning. He
was responsible for the dialogues of Dr. Lester James Peiris's (1976)
film Madol Duwa.
Archives
In the absence of a national cinema archives, in 2011, Prof
Ariyaratne published a rare collection of stills (200 in all) from all
of Dr Peries' films (18 in all) with great archival value in the best
interest of future generations.
Twice recipient of the Signis International award for outstanding
original score for a feature film ('05 and '08), Lakshman Joseph de
Saram is a professional classical musician and film composer based in
Sri Lanka. Schooled in New York City as a classical violinist, and a
veteran of over 800 concerts, he is, however, best known as the composer
who defined the Nouvelle Vague sound of South Asian art-house cinema the
ground breaking scores to many international award-winning films.
His recently concluded original score for the StudioCanal/Magnolia
Pictures star-studded film, Bel Ami (2012), makes him one of a few Asian
born creative heads operating on that elite platform. He is also the
Artistic Director of one of Sri Lanka's most critically acclaimed arts
organisations, the Chamber Music Society of Colombo.
Asian greats
Revered as one of the Asian greats, Lester James Peries has won
continuous international acclaim in several parts of the world. With 50
productive years, 20 full length feature films, tele-serials, countless
retrospectives around the world, bouquets and brickbats, national and
international honours, Lester James Peries takes them all in his stride,
they rest on his slight frame with ease.
The accolades poured in, ever since Sumitra Peries' directorial debut
Gehenu Lamai stormed the cinematic world in 1978, winning rave reviews
and great international acclaim.
Renowned as a film maker with a keen aesthetic sensibility and
sensitivity which portray the feminine condition, Sumitra Peries holds a
world record in cinema even to this day as being the world's most senior
woman film director still in active film making. She is currently
working on her latest film Vaishnavee (Divine Messenger), based on a
story by Dr. Lester James Peries.
The "Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation" is an
approved charity and is incorporated by an Act of Parliament. Its
Trustees are Dr. Lester James Peries, Sumitra Peries, Gayathri Mustachi,
Yadamini Gunawardena and Kumar de Silva.
On its Board of Directors are Sameera Manabarana Randeniya, Yashodha
Wimaladharma, Yasoja Gunawardena and Nuran Gomez.
Commercial Credit PLC is the Platinum Sponsor of the Foundation's
activities during 2013/14. |
