BY ARUNA Gunaratne

THE Sarasaviya Film Awards ceremony is not a ground breaking film awards ceremony in this country. There had been many more film awards ceremonies before and after it.

But the Sarasaviya awards ceremony has been able to gather much more profundity and attraction than any one of them. So much so that it has become the nation's greatest cultural event in the true sense of the word.

Although it is organised by a leading newspaper institution in Sri Lanka 'Sarasaviya' has become a leading topic of discussion and criticism among all other sections of the media as well.

The filmfare awards ceremony in India, considered the most popular awards ceremony in Asia too is organised by a media organisation but other competing media institutions do not take any notice of it.

But Sarasaviya awards in different in the same sense that it has become a national event irrespective of who organises it.

There are several types of Film awards ceremonies in the world today. There is one type which capture a respectable basis by identifying the cinema rhythms of each era for the welfare of the cinema.

There are others which capture the value of brightening the awards as well as the film stars connected to them. From among them fans get more attracted towards cinema awards ceremonies emphasising on the quality of the film stars.

The honour and prestige of film awards gain added gloss due to the film stars joining them rather than ideologies. The Academy awards and India's Filmfare and Screen awards are such examples.

At the beginning the Sarasaviya Film Awards Ceremony was based on the structure of the Filmfare Awards Ceremony but it emphasised on film star quality from its inception. That is why it was able to safeguard its identity despite various criticisms.

The Sarasaviya film awards ceremony began in 1964 at a time when the local cinema was trying to shed its South Indian orientation and establish an indigenous identity. There was no need to go to India to make films any more and the era of Indian artistes too had ended.

The era of cinema pioneers such as S.M. Nayagam, B.A.W. Jayamanne, Sirisena Wimalaweera and T. Somasekaran too had ended.

Although the first rebellion started in the local cinema by Dr. Lester James Peries in 1956 was a lone struggle even modern main stream films were building up a new tradition. The facet that local fans had identified this cinema awakening was evident from the results of the reader voting at the first Sarasaviya Film Festival.

Readers and fans had turned down the traditional rural feature films such as Sikuru Tharuwa and Kurulubedda, box office hits like Ranmuthuduwa and Sandeshaya and Indian imitations like Suhada Sohoyuro and Suwineetha Lalani and selected Gamperaliya as the most popular films.

Gamperaliya which was not a box office success had won the Indian "Rana Mayura" (Silver Peacock) award by then. By selecting it as the most popular film, fans directed the future path of the Sarasaviya awards ceremony into a different and clear direction.

Similarly the Jury appointed by the organisers comprised individuals who had raised various idealogies in the cultural field. The jury and the most popular film award are the two main features which differentiates the Sarasaviya festivals from the Academy and Filmfare awards ceremonies.

While the Jury clashes with various ideologies regarding the cinema the most popular awards explain the variety in the local cinema. This came into sharp focus with the selection of the highest box office film as the most popular film at the Sarasaviya awards ceremony in 1991.

It was evident that there were various trends in the local cinema each passing year. Since then the seven films with the highest box office rewards were selected for screening during the Sarasaviya Film Festival upto 2001.

After 2001 the highest box office film and six films selected by the Jury were screened at this film festival. But film awards were not restricted to those seven films only.

All films screened during the respective year came in for reckoning for the selection of awards. As a result talented artistes in films which were not much patronised by film goers came to the limelight at the Sarasaviya Awards Ceremony.

Although the Sarasaviya Film Awards Ceremony is 40 years old it has not lost its usual glamour or quality one bit upto date. Many years have lapsed since the local cinema has shed its past profundity and star centred nature.

Just because a film receives rare international recognition or breaks box office rewards it is sheer ignorance to think that the Sinhala cinema has gone back to its golden era once again.

In this era of globalisation when we have become partners of a global village and world renowned films are sold on the wayside in DVD form such a golden age would remain a sheer thing of the past.

However, even at this juncture there is a high level of interest in this country about the Sarasaviya Film Awards Ceremony.

It is common to see even a person who had not seen a film for the past several years making his or her observations of the Sarasaviya Awards Ceremony after it is staged each year. It may be the film stars and other features rather than the awards itself which may be drawing their attention towards it.

What bearing will the golden past or the bright contemporary era have on the future of the local cinema? Can an awards ceremony continue amidst a collapsed film industry solely depending on featuring film stars.

These are matters which should gain the attention of a person concerned with the future of the Sarasaviya Film Awards Ceremony.

Today many young filmmakers are trying to gain international attention towards their creations. Some have succeeded in their endeavour while others without stopping at that have brought foreign investments to the local cinema.

Some of them who have an eye on the local film market are having certain reservations about local film awards ceremonies. Winning over their confidence has become an urgent need.

The future generation may not depend on film rolls for creating films.

Furthermore filmmakers and fans will inherit a cinema which will flow across territorial borders. Identifying these revolutionary changes is another challenge confronting the Sarasaviya Film Awards Ceremony.

Past and recent history of the Sarasaviya Film Awards Ceremony amply proves that it has the necessary strength and features to overcome these challenges and attune to the changing times and needs.

.................................

<< back to Main Page