‘Lester James Peries Oration 2013’ on 15 June at BMICH

Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne will be Chief Guest at the third annual ‘Lester James Peries Oration’ which will be held at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday 15 June at the Committee Room ‘B’ of the BMICH.

Guest of Honour on the occasion will be the Ambassador for France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives Christine Robichon. This event is open to the public. Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne will speak on ‘Songs of Lester-Sumitra Cinema’ while Lakshman Joseph de Saram will speak on ‘Music and the Moving Image’.

Senior professor of the Sinhala Language, Mass Media and Communication Faculty of the Sri Jayewardenepura University, Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne is also an acclaimed film director, lyricist, poet, and, an indefatigable researcher into the less familiar aspects of Sinhala literature and culture for which he has also won State Literature awards.

Prof. Ariyaratne shot to fame as a director with his second film ‘Sarungale’ (1979) and has, in a film career spanning 34 years, directed 19 films, many of which have been highly acclaimed and award-winning. He was responsible for the dialogues of the Dr. Lester James Peries’s (1976) film ‘Madol Duwa’

In the absence of a national cinema archives, in 2011, Prof. Ariyaratne published a rare collection of stills (200 in all) from all of Dr. Peries’ films (18 in all) with great archival value in the best interest of future generations.

 Twice recipient of the Signis International award for outstanding original score for a feature film (‘05 and ‘08), Lakshman Joseph de Saram is a professional classical musician and film composer based in Sri Lanka. Schooled in New York City as a classical violinist, and a veteran of over 800 concerts, he is however best known as the composer who defined the ‘Nouvelle Vague’ sound of South Asian art-house cinema the ground breaking scores to many international award-winning films.

 His recently concluded original score for the StudioCanal/Magnolia Pictures star-studded film, ‘Bel Ami’ (2012), makes him one of a few Asian born creative heads operating on that elite platform. He is also the Artistic Director of one of Sri Lanka’s most critically acclaimed arts organisations, the Chamber Music Society of Colombo.

Revered as one of the Asian greats, Lester James Peries has won continuous international acclaim in several parts of the world. With 50 productive years, 20 full length feature films, tele-serials, countless retrospectives around the world, bouquets and brickbats, national and international honours – Lester James Peries takes it all in his stride – they all rest on his slight frame – with ease.

The ‘Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation’ is an approved charity and is incorporated by an Act of Parliament. Its Trustees are Dr. Lester James Peries, Sumitra Peries, Gayathri Mustachi, Yadamini Gunawardena and Kumar de Silva. On its Board of Directors are Sameera Manabarana Randeniya, Yashodha Wimaladharma, Yasoja Gunawardena and Nuran Gomez. Commercial Credit PLC is the Platinum Sponsor of the Foundation’s activities during 2013/14.