All set for third Buddhist Film Festival

Priyanka Kurugala

With the aim of building a World Buddhist Cinema the third BuddhistFilm Festival will be held at the Bandaranaike Memorial Conference Hall on May 18,19,20,21 and 22 on a grand scale.

To mark the 2600th Sambuddhatva Jayanthi this 3rd film festival is to be held with the filming of cinematic creations of other Buddhist countries.

The coordinator Sanka Mewan Herath said that, around 350 Buddhist films of short duration have been presented for the forthcoming Vesak Film Festival.

To mark the 2600th Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi in 2011,the Light of Asia Foundation, the National Film Corporation and BMICH, as its third stage, will hold this international Buddhist Film Festival similar to that of previous years at the premises of the BMICH and at Independence Square in Colombo. All these films are scheduled to be viewed on 20 screens in these areas.

The Film Festival will be held under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and under the guidance of the International Buddhist Film Festival Chairman, Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.

Naveen Gunarathna is the director while Saman Weeraman is the Ministerial Coordinator of the Film Festival.

One of the main objectives of the film festival is to showcase Sri Lanka as the centre of Buddhist film industry this year.

The first stage of the festival was held to mark the 2600th Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi on Vesak day 2009. The second stage was held on Vesak Day 2010. Eight categories of foreign and local Buddhist films are to be screened in three categories-excellent, very good and good.

They are short films, mobile phones short films, animations, documentary; documentary dramas, Buddhist music videos and feature films. Some animated pandals, Vesak e-cards, art, photography, e-paintings will also be on display simultaneously, Herath said.