Mini screen felicitates big screen

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

The glory of young men is their strength, grey hair the splendour of the old. So the proverb goes signifying that both young and old have their strong points.

Derana TV’s latest venture in holding a film awards festival to pay homage to cinema evokes such maxims. Both media have strong similarities despite the difference in screen size. Yet the mini screen team’s endeavour was a result of noting that there are no international scale projects to pay homage to those who contribute to the development of the cinema industry. Award shows spell big entertainment, big business and big money on the small screen. Be it imposing sets, glittering song-and-dance routines, comic skits, and a galaxy of stars, especially the biggest names around,. Derana has left no stone unturned when they launch the ‘Derana Lux Film Awards’. The star-studded event will unfurl at Musaeus College Auditorium on September 14.

Daily News ‘Projector’ spoke to Derana chairman Laksiri Wickramage and Derana Programmes Director Sharmila Dharmarasa.

Q: What inspired you to hold the ‘Derana Lux Film Awards’?

Sharmila: ‘Derana Music Video Awards’ was quite successful and helped the music video industry thrive. It was a novel concept. Recognizing people on that level and appreciating their contribution helped to boost the industry.

‘Derana Lux Film Awards’ was launched to follow similar lines because we were eager to tackle another industry. There is no film awards ceremony on par with the international scale in Sri Lanka. We are hoping to hold a glittering ceremony similar to the Filmfare or IIFA Awards. The idea behind this is to encourage the people linked with the film industry and get the whole fraternity together to celebrate 65 years of Sri Lankan cinema.

Q:Don’t you feel that there are too many award ceremonies at present?

Sharmila: Most of these ceremonies felicitate the teledrama industry and other sectors. Only the OCIC Awards honour those in the cinema industry. There isn’t any film awards ceremony with the variety that we have lined up. We have 27 awards to give away which includes three popular awards for the Most Popular Song of the Year, Most Popular Actor and Most Popular Actress. People can vote via SMS to 9900 or on www.cinema.lk The Most Popular Song has five nominations: two songs from ‘Challengers’, one from ‘Gamani’, one from ‘Sinhawalokanaya’ and one from ‘King Hunther’. Those will be performed at the ceremony.

Apart from that we have a category named ‘World Premiere Movies’. This includes movies which have had a world premiere. The Best Director, Best Short Film and a Special Jury award is given under this category. Winning an award on home grounds will be a sign of recognition for the film-makers when they apply to take part in film festivals abroad.

We will also give awards for the Best Performance in a Comic Role, Best Performance in a Negative Role, Best Stunt Director, Best Makeup etc in the Main Category. These include films which have had a theatrical release in 2011. We have touched upon every sector so that basically everybody in the industry has been included. We want to achieve the level that winning a Derana Film award becomes the most prestigious thing in the film industry. It is a matter of encouraging healthy competition.

Q: What is your criterion in choosing the films eligible for the awards?

Sharmila: Anyone who has released their movies in 2011 can apply. The award is named ‘The First Derana Lux Film Awards 2011’. We have about 15 applicants. We hope to accommodate 1, 500 invitees. We will be telecasting the event on the channel on September 21 at 7 pm.

Q: The small screen felicitating the big screen. That sounds unusual.

Sharmila: I think we are interconnected because both our industries cannot survive without each other to a certain extent. We need the stars to make our shows glamorous. When you include an artiste in a show, the ratings soar. Cinema needs us to publicize their movies and bring fans to theatres.

Q: Entertainment films are more popular with masses despite art films bagging awards at international film festivals.

Laksiri: Art does not fall into the mass category. They may be technically more superior but it is not part of the popular culture. It is like trying to make Beethoven’s music the most popular music in the world. Similarly we have tried to make art the popular culture for a long time which actually had devastating effects on the cinema industry. This is because the government which prevailed furing that era tried to convert the niche into the mass through nationalizing the industry. Art belongs to the niche market and niche never belongs to the mass sector. For the first time we are awarding both by categorizing them separately. In the 1970s, 70 million movie tickets have been sold in Sri Lanka but now only seven million are being sold. Film has moved away from the popular culture. We hope to popularize films by holding events like the ‘Derana Lux Film Awards’.

Q: Do you think that there are some noteworthy films being made during today?

Sharmila: ‘Derana Lux Film Awards’ is merely an attempt to encourage film-makers. Of course every film is not on par with each other. Good ones, bad ones and exceptionally bad ones always exist. This categorization also differs according to individual tastes. However I think the jury, comprising five veterans for the ‘Main Category’ and three for the ‘World Premiere Movies’, has done a fairly decent job. We have to be strict in our selections to get much more standard films in the future.

Q:Doesn’t Derana TV have an interest towards producing a movie in the future?

Sharmila: We haven’t really given it thought but it sounds like a good idea.

Laksiri: Our films thrived under the protected economy enforced by the state some years back but once they brought in free economy, the film industry remained in the post economy era. Our industry is not protected because people are free to download movies and watch any international film they like by purchasing DVDs. However cinema has all the state restrictions which existed in the past. There are only a limited amount of distributors. Film theatres are in a deplorable state and good theatres only screen foreign movies. We are far behind in these aspects. It is vital that we free the industry.

Short Film Festival

The Change Hospitality Collaboration (CHC) has organized a Short Film Festival, ‘Sala Roo 2012’ which will take place in Ratnapura in December.

The organizers are accepting productions to be screened at the event and three awards: the Best Short Film, Special Jury Award and Best Mind Triggering Film, will behalded over to the best productions. Short Films which have been produced during the last two years and do not exceed 30 minutes are eligible to take part in the festival.

You can send the production on DVD with your application to: Change Hospitality Collaboration, No 68, Bandaranaike Mawatha, Ratnapura.

The closing date for entries is October 25. For further details call Buddhika – 0773744009, Sisira – 0774314413 or Danusha – 0714447979.

‘Vijaya-Kuveni’ in demand

Sugath Samarakoon’s maiden cinematic venture ‘Vijaya-Kuveni’ has exceeded 120 days of screening in 17 cinemas islandwide.

Almost 1, 300, 000 moviegoers have watched the film and some who have watched it once are lured into theatres to watch the production again. According to Samarkoon there has been a demand from movie theatre owners to screen the movie again in Colombo.

‘Vijaya-Kuveni’ relates the history of our ancestors and traces the tragic tale on how the Yakka Princess, Kuveni, helped Prince Vijaya come to power by defeating her own tribe. Unfortunately her act proved to be a double edged sword because Kuveni herself was chased out of the palace by Vijaya’s people and killed by some of those who have survived her betrayal. The movie produced by Gayan Ranadheera, stars Roger Seneviratne and Dulani Anuradha in lead roles.

OCIC laurels for the stars

Bimal Jayakody receives the gold award for best performance in a male role from Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo

Shashika Nisansala with her family

Udayanthi Kulatunga receives a merit award

The 36th SIGNIS Salutation Festival 2012 took place on September 1 at the BMICH. Many known faces in the film and teledrama industry graced the gala event.

The Best Actor Gold Award for films was won by Bimal Jayakody for ‘Gamani’ while the Silver Award went to Joe Abeywickrama for ‘Deevari’. The Best Actress Gold Award was bagged by Dilhani Ekanayake for ‘Gamani’ while Sangeetha Weeraratne walked away with the Silver Award for ‘Deevari’. The Best Creation of the Year Award went to ‘Deevari’. Rear Admiral Dr Sarath Weerasekara and Salinda Perera jointly won the Most Creative Director Award.

In the teledrama sector the Best Actor Gold award was won by Sanjeewa Upendra for ‘Sandagiripavva’ while Himali Siriwardena won the Best Actress Gold Award for the same teledrama. The Best Teledrama Director was Saman Kumara Liyanage for ‘Sandagiripavva’. Sawrnavahini clinched the award of Best Creation of the Year for ‘Sandagiripavva’ RJ

Pictures by Amith S Senaratne

Uresha Ravihari performs at the event

Rev Fr Benedict Joseph greets Dr D B Nihalsinghe