Ranmihithenna National Tele-Cinema Park :
Biggest investment for local cinema - President
Rasika SOMARATHNA in Ranmihithenna, Tissamaharama
President Mahinda Rajapaksa who declared opened the country's first
ever fully-equipped National Tele-Cinema Park at Ranmihithenna in
Tissamaharama yesterday identified the facility as the biggest
investment a Government could make on behalf of its local cinema.
The Mahinda Rajapaksa Tele-Cinema Park built according to a concept
by him is located in a sprawling 235 acres of land with a cost of Rs 600
million for the first phase and the total cost is expected to exceed Rs
two billion. The President after declaring open the facility told the
crowd who had gathered to witness the historic occasion (which included
the country's cream of Film-Tele industry fraternity), that the golden
era which was lost to the local cinema would be back.
He added that the time where Sri Lankan film makers would compete
with the best in the global arena would be in the not too distant
future. Also the time in which overseas Tele/Film makers dictated terms
on the local audience would soon be over, he added.
The President was of the opinion that it was not the talent which the
local film makers lacked but the facilities to compete with the very
best in the world and added that the likes of Ranmihithenna would
empower them to reach greater heights.
The facility which includes the infrastructure film producers need
provides the television and cinema artistes of the country an
opportunity to produce films and tele-drams under one roof at a low
production cost. It also provides the necessary natural scenery as it is
located close to natural attractions in the area such as the Yala
National Park, the Coastal belt, natural landscapes with magnificent
scenery and vistas and a water reservoir of 40 acres.
The producers also could reach the mountains of the central hills
within the short span of two hours. Also there are various production
sets in line with producers requirements including mock locations of
cities such as Colombo, Kandy, Anuradhapura and Galle.
It has a fully equipped studio, accommodation, libraries, educational
facilities, swimming pool, restaurants etc. This enables artistes to
complete their creations of international standards under one roof but
with low production cost. The Village is funded with the state revenue
tax collected from foreign tele-dramas. The opening ceremony was
followed by a colourful ceremony including a street opera with the
participation of 450 artistes.
Incidentally yesterday's opening of the historic location also fell
on the date of the 105th birth anniversary of President Rajapaksa's
father and late veteran politician D A Rajapaksa. First Lady Shiranthi
Rajapaksa, Namal Rajapaksa, Ministers Chamal Rajapaksa, Laksman Yapa
Abeywardene and G L Peiris participated. Media Ministry Secretary W B
Ganegala, Artistes Ravindra Randeniya, Jackson Anthony and D B
Nihalshinghe along with Minister Chamal Rajapaksa too addressed the
gathering.
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