Punch in BRIEF

Sinhabahu at Punchi theatre

Sinhabahu stage play of Prof.Ediriwira Sarachchandra will be staged on Saturday (June 15) at 3.30 pm and 6.45 pm at Namel Malini Punchi theatre, Colombo 8.

Tickets are only available at Namel Malini Punchi theatre. All seats have been boxplanned.

The Western Brass Band of St Peter’s College, Colombo emerged winners at the Inaugural Outdoor Band Competition (IOBC) which was organised by the Old Royalist Cadet Band Association (ORCBA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Sri Lanka. This mega event involving over 70 schools in the Island, out of which over 35 participated in the Western Band category, was held at the Royal College grounds recently with the Minister of Education Bandula Gunawardana in attendance as the chief guest to distribute the awards to the prize winners.

The Ministry of Education conducted a ‘Baratha Natya Dance Muttra’ national level competition recently. Tharmaratnam Luwenuja, a student from the Thambiluvil Maha Vidyalaya in the Thirukkovil Educational zone won the first prize. Here, the student is seen with her teacher Madiwadani Balendrakumar. Picture by: I L M Rizan, Addalaichenai Central Corr

Food, Inc

Food, Inc(2008) will be screened on June 11 at 6pm at the American Center, No 44, Galle Road, Colombo 3. (Running Time: 91 minutes)

For most Americans, the ideal meal is fast, cheap and tasty. Food, Inc. examines the costs of putting value and convenience over nutrition and environmental impact. Director Robert Kenner explores the subject from all angles, talking to authors, advocates, farmers, and CEOs, like co-producer Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma), Gary Hirschberg (Stonyfield Farms), and Barbara Kowalcyk, who's been lobbying for more rigorous standards since E. coli claimed the life of her two-year-old son.

The filmmaker takes his camera into slaughterhouses and factory farms where chickens grow too fast to walk properly, cows eat feed pumped with toxic chemicals, and illegal immigrants risk life and limb to bring these products to market at an affordable cost.

If eco-docs tends to preach to the converted, Kenner presents his findings in such an engaging fashion that Food, Inc. may well reach the very viewers who could benefit from it the most: harried workers who do not have the time or income to read every book and eat non-genetically modified produce every day.

Seating is limited and is first-come, first-served.

Nanda to perform in Canada and in UK

Renowned songstress Nanda Malini will perform in Canada at Calgary on June 14, Manitoba on June 15, Vancouver on June 16, Toronto on June 22 and Montreal on June 23.

The team consists Rohana Weerasinghe as the music director along with Suresh Maliyadda, Mahendra Pasquale and Dhananjaya Somasiri to provide music for her songs.

Voice of Lanka FM's Ranjith Wickramasinghe in Toronto had organised the concerts.

Malini will be performing her 'Gee Ama' concert in UK's Logan hall on June 30. Victor Ratnayake too will be joining her in staging this concert. This will be a treat for music enthusiasts as the duo will be holding this concert together after a considerable span.

Suresh Maliyadda will be directing the music at 'Gee Ama.'Three more musicians: violinist Rukshan Gunewardena, flutist Priyantha Dasanayake and tabla player Nihal Kalubovila will be joining their team. Art Lanka organisation has put the concert together. Prasad Orlando is the chief organiser of the event together with Art Lanka founder members Priyavijaya Fonseka and Prema Ganegoda. Seven more musicians living in UK will be joining the group to provide music for the show.