The good, the bad and the accolades
The significance of ‘should-have, would-have, could
have beens’ at the Sarasaviya Awards:
Aditha Dissanayake
 Now that several decades have passed since the birth of the local
cinema, we have all become sophisticated consumers of film. The images
on the big screen increasingly influence our everyday lives and help to
shape our opinions, attitudes and beliefs. Yet, rarely do we appreciate
the efforts that go into making a movie. This is where the Sarasaviya
Film Festival steps in.
Truly, this is one of the most wonderful times of the year...that
familiar feeling for film enthusiasts; waking up in the morning and
turning the pages of the newspapers, scanning the list of nominees with
a pounding heart, grinning to yourself if your favourites have made it
to the list, groaning if they are passed over.
The sweetest words a film fan can hear. The Sarasaviya Awards!
Today, on the eve of the 31st Sarasaviya Awards there is no doubt
that the foremost film festival in the country has travelled a great
distance, appreciating the insight into life, culture and moral
well-being of our society, provided through the local film industry.
As the place where the appreciation of filmmaking made its proverbial
mark, this year too the Sarasaviya Film Festival will be making a
renewed commitment to award the talent that keeps the torches burning in
the film industry.
For in spite of the festival embracing hardly a generation, within
the span of 31 years it is impossible to think of any other event that
has had such an extensive impact on the film industry. Sarasaviya
brought the world of cinema home to millions of fans in a way they have
never seen or experienced before.
A great movie should not merely be seen. It demands appreciation and
many would agree that the Sarasaviya festival has created the stage, for
well-deserved accolades.
Even though various critics invariably grumble about the
‘independent,’ ‘artistic,’ or ‘serious’ character of the nominated films
the festival has always strived to award the greatest achievements in
film-making. There are no losers at a festival such as the Sarasaviya,
purely devoted as it is, to appreciating good films. There are only
winners.
Each year the festival forms a symbolic appreciation of how the
artistes overcome all adversities when it comes to making a movie. The
depth, texture and intensity, the ability to find dramatic form for the
most compelling problems in our society, the presence of genuine
compassion for the evils threatening our environment, and the sense of
life as it presents itself everywhere...
with all its everyday triviality... ugliness and vitality... these
are the features acknowledged every year through the Sarasaviya film
festival. Undoubtedly opening our eyes to the realities of the present
world or the fantasies of the sublime.
Life will not be the same without this event in every hardcore movie
geek’s calendar.
For, in many ways, the Awards are a reminder that making movies still
is, and should be, a form of art and paves the way to appreciate life on
reel; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud... to
see things hidden behind walls and within rooms, the women that men love
and men that women dream of... to see and to take pleasure in seeing...
to see and be amazed...
<<--------------------
BACK to Main Page
|
