The occasion was graced by many influential and inspirational personalities in Sri Lanka’s Cinema industry, and the ceremony also saw the participation of U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, who was the Chief Guest at the event.
Accepting an invitation from CEYIFF, CINE STAR FOUNDATION, an organization dedicated to the local Cinema industry unanimously decided to collaborate to host this historic event in Colombo, with the consent of its Board of Directors and Senior artistes.
Highlights from the ceremony saw notable personalities and films with high production-value from Sri Lanka’s Cinema industry take home awards, including Jayantha Chandrasiri who won the Best Screenplay award for the film Garasarpa, The Newspaper which won the Best Film award, Sarath Kotelawala who won Best Director and Best Actor for the The Newspaper, Neranjani Shanmugaraja who won the Best Actress award for the film Tsunami, Himali Sayurangi who won the Best Supporting Actress award for Tsunami, Kumara Thirimadura who won the Best Supporting Actor award for The Newspaper, and Tsunami which won the Jury Special Award.
Gayathree Kemadasa won the Best Music Direction award for Garasarpa while the Women in Cinema award went to Renuka Balasooriya.
Veteran Actress Irangani Serasinghe and Veteran Singer Latha Walpola were recipients for the Lifetime Awards at the event.
Undoubtedly, this would pave the way to connect Sri-Lankan Cinema industry with the rest of the world as the industry needs to cross borders for the next phase of growth to gain the scale for commercial viability thus earning the respect and admiration for its capabilities and talent.
This is also the first time a film festival of this stature and magnitude was hosted in Sri-Lanka with a global feel and flavor.
“The award winners were adjudicated by all foreign professionals across multiple disciplines and excelled at the global level in their respective fields.
These adjudicators have no direct links whatsoever with the stakeholders of the Sri-Lankan Cinema.
Hence, the selections are totally unbiased and based on pure merits which make the award winners truly proud and the award so unique and valuable,” noted CEYIFF Chairperson Aruni Botheju.
“We are very pleased with the opportunity to host this event in Colombo in collaboration with CEYIFF, which we believe will open up new doors for the Sri Lankan Cinema industry to explore new opportunities to go from strength to strength to realize the dream of making the Sinhala Cinema truly global.
This is the first step forward down that challenging journey to make Mother Lanka proud through global recognition and respect,” stated CINE STAR FOUNDATION Chairman Dr. Jayantha Dharmadasa, who is also the Chairman of Nawaloka Holdings PLC, which continues to add tremendous value to the country through multiple high-level engagements across many disciplines.
About CEYIFF
The Ceylon International Film Festival (CEYIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization formed by Aruni Boteju, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.
The focus of Ceylon International Film Festival is to promote Sri Lankan Cinema while opening up opportunities for Sri Lankan filmmakers to enter into the global standards of filmmaking by having an exposure to Hollywood.
This also provides them with ample opportunities to exchange the global culture and immerse themselves in the creative landscape of filmmaking.
CEYIFF is the first-ever Sri Lankan Film Festival Organized outside of Sri Lanka, and is dedicated to presenting International and Sri Lankan Cinema to film lovers.
CEYIFF is committed to promoting new filmmakers’ projects and showcasing their films to international audiences.
Its mission is to screen independent films of all genres from all around the world.
The educational arm of the organization focuses on providing scholarships and other benefits to the filmmakers with the objective of encouraging them to strive in the filmmaking industry.
Further, the educational arm also offers courses and training programs to help them sharpen the saw, using modern tools and innovations.
Master Class program for young filmmakers can be identified as another milestone of the organization where the two cents of experts are being given to the new bees, using virtual workshops and in-person workshops.
This takes place in both countries, ensuring the exchange of customs and cultural knowledge that are indigenous.
About CINE STAR FOUNDATION
CINE STAR FOUNDATION is an organization dedicated to the local Cinema industry and registered as a non-profit organization with the Registrar of Companies.
It has over 350 members representing all aspects of the cinema industry.
The Foundation is Chaired by a well-known business tycoon and sports administrator Dr. Jayantha Dharmadasa with his passion for the Cinema and Music industry who also steers the Outstanding Song Creators Association (OSCA) with the voluntary support from several leading personalities in Sri-Lanka to safeguard the members’ rights and to assure their well-being in numerous ways including a medical and life insurance cover for all.
The most popular “Ridee Reyak show” was conceptualized and conducted to generate funds to help the CINE STAR membership to meet their needs and wants since the inception of the foundation in the year 2003.
“Ridee Reyak - 2022” was held last December for the 20th time proving a point that CINE STAR is fully committed to its mission and so far succeeded in successfully navigating all impediments to honor its social commitment.
