Signis salutes artistes

“I have reached the pinnacle of success and I stand amid a cheering crowd congratulating me and spurring me on. I look at the crowd and there are faces I don’t see. A mother, a father and a teacher. All those who made it possible for me to become who I am today. I see strangers. Every society creates its film stars. We adulate them, put them on a pedestal.”

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

Every award that a film star receives carries with it the signature of a parent, a friend, a teacher and the adoring public. Recently the film community and telefilm community along with those who made their ascent possible - their audience - came together to celebrate Sri Lankan cinema and acknowledge outstanding cinematic contributions made by artists in many fields, who have done mother Lanka proud.

The festival, organized by SIGNIS (The World Catholic Organization for Communication) was an overwhelming success with Bambara Walalla swiping the awards and making a seriously huge impact. It was actually a night dominated by Bambara Walalla. In addition to the awards being given there were a number of cultural items that thoroughly entertained the crowd.

“This evening is a beautiful one, dazzled by star light to enliven us. We welcome all those who are here in this audience with an attitude of love. When we look at our history, one day stands out, and that is December 21, 1972. The chief guest was Sri Lanka’s first Cardinal Thomas Cooray. A substantial crowd gathered to celebrate artistes of Sinhala cinema. Everything was systematically organized by his farsightedness. He promoted creativity. He laid the foundation stone for future festivals. Now this annual event began as a seed and has now become a mighty tree.

It is an honour for the SIGNIS festival to hold hands with the film industry for these 35 years. Now this SIGNIS festival has become somewhat of a heritage to Sri Lanka. This Signis festival is testimony to the fact that arts will always hold a special place in Sri Lanka. It will not be ignored or forgotten. We salute the artists and the cameraman and all involved in cinema for we know that you have aimed at excellence. This is no secret,” said SIGNIS National Director Fr. Benedict Joseph. SIGNIS aims to be a network that inspires, educates and transforms our societies building a global culture of peace. Indeed we in Sri Lanka today have been called to become ambassadors of peace and what better way to promote peace than through the media. What better way is there to build bridges than through cinema?

“To build a truly peaceful society you need truth, justice, compassion and freedom, the duty of the media should be respecting the truth and serving the truth. The freedom to express the truth is an important factor. To create a disciplined society and a society with a conscience this freedom is important. The freedom of expression is an integral part of our society and for that matter any society. The responsibility for this lies with the media. To understand the truth there must be transparency,” stated His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.

Cardinal Ranjith also stated that for creating a peaceful society justice is a must. This must be done for the common good of the common mind. A man has a body and a soul. The good of the body and the soul must be ensured through the presence of education and religion.

The Cardinal emphasized the fact that for the common good there is another factor that we must not forget and that is equality. Equality can be ensured through respecting diversity and the identity of other people. Human rights must also be preserved. This cannot be done by the media alone. Cinema has a role to play. This is because it is yet another means of communication. The reigns of the media lies with the private sector and the government sector. Therefore outside interference can take place. This makes the media stooges of outsiders. This is sacrificing media freedom. Therein lies the danger. So the media must listen to the voice of their conscience and do what is right. We are overjoyed over the end of the cruel 30 year war. However the end of the war though making an impact on peace, does not ensure complete peace. This can be done only when race, religion and creed are united.

CREATIVE ART DIRECTION

*SIGNIS/OCIC Gold Award for creative Art Direction in 2010- Manjula
Ayagama / Athula Liyanage in Bambara Walalla

CREATIVE SOUND
*The SIGNIS/OCIC Gold Award for creative sound in 2010 goes to Aruna Priyantha Kaluarachchi in Bambara Walalla

CREATIVE MAKE UP
*Priyantha Dissanayake, the Art Director of Ira Handa Yata

CREATIVE MUSIC
*Kasun Kalhara Jayawardena Art Director in Bambara Walalla

CREATIVE EDITING
*Ajith Ramanayake for his editing in Bambara Walalla

CREATIVE VOCALIZATION
*Uresha Ravihari for her rendering of Ahasa Enduwa Ira Handa Adare Ne Kiya in Uttara

CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY
*Trisula Deepa Tambavita for his cinematography in Bambara Walalla

CREATIVE SCRIPT
SIGNIS /OCIC Silver Award for the creative script in 2010 goes to Athula Liyanage for his script in Bambara Walalla

CREATIVE SUPPORTING ACTING(MALE)
*SIGNIS/OCIC Gold Award for creative Supporting Actor (MALE) in 2010 goes to Sriyantha Mendis for his portrayal of Jine in Bambara Walalla

CREATIVE SUPPORTING

ACTING (FEMALE)
*The SIGNIS/OCIC Gold Award goes to Jayani Senanayake for her role as Malkanthi in Stutiy Newatha Enna

CREATIVE ACTING (MALE)
*The SIGNIS/OCIC Gold Award for creative Acting (MALE) goes to Mahendra Perera for his portrayal of the character of Mal Mahaththaya in Bambara Walalla.

CREATIVE ACTING (FEMALE) SILVER
*SIGNIS/OCIC Silver Award for creative Acting (FEMALE) in 2010 goes to Damitha Abeyratne for her role as Mandakini in Dakina Dakina Mal

CREATIVE DIRECTION

*SIGNIS/OCIC Gold Award for creative Directing in 2010 goes to Athula Liyanage for directing Bambara Walalla

YEAR’S MOST ESTEEMED CINEMATIC CREATION
*SIGNIS/OCIC Gold Award for the year’s Most Esteemed Cinematic creation goes to the film Bambara Walalla

SIGNIS/OCIC/INTERNATIONAL HOMAGES
*Sanath Gunathilaka
*Roy De Silva
*Charitha Priyadar shani Jayakody

SHORT FILMS CATEGORY

*Sima by Director Sujeewa Gunarathna
SHORT FILM ANIMATION
*Sutikka by Director Lakmal Priyadarshana Fernando

SIGNIS OCIC 2011 ELECTRONIC MEDIA CATEGORY

Award in song visualization category
*Api Hamuvunothing by Director Chamil Pathirana

Award in TV Commercials Category

*Avuruddata Game Avilla by Director Sudath Mahadivulwewa

Award in credit title category

*Isurubhavana Thema Nirmanaya by Director Sasanka Deepal Amaraweera

Award in trailer category

*Adharaneeya Yawwanaya by Director Sasanka Depal Amaraweera

The 35th Signis salutation festival was held on October 14 (Friday) at the BMICH.

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