Celebrating Lester James Peries

This month’s edition of ‘Rendez-Vous with Yasmin and Kumar’ now showing on the YouTube channel of the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, celebrates the life and world of Sri Lanka’s internationally renowned film maker Dr. Lester James Peries.

His connection with France has been a ‘karmic tryst’ ever since he took his first film Rekawa to the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. France has hosted numerous retrospectives of his body of work since then. 

In 1981 his film ‘Beddegama’ or ‘Village in the Jungle’ was screened in the Director’s Fortnight section at the Cannes festival.

Two year later in 1983 he was back in Cannes with his film ‘Kaliyugaya’.

In 1988 the Cinematheque Francaise had a retrospective of his work and made Lester James and Sumithra Peries life members of the prestigious Cinematheque Francaise. 

The same year in 1988 the Festival of Three Continents in Nantes recognised Dr. Peries as one of the best film makers of the three continents – Asia, Africa and Latin America.

When the Cannes Film Festival celebrated its 45th anniversary in 1992, Dr. Peries was invited to be a member of the prestigious Jury with Gerard Depardieu as President.

In 1995 when world cinema celebrated its centenary, his (1972) film Nidhanaya was included among the Top 100 films of the century by the prestigious Cinematheque Française.

In 1997 he was decorated by the Government of France as Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters.

The Alliance Francaise de Colombo recently paid tribute to Dr. Peries with a special screening of his 2002 movie ‘Wekanda Walauwwe’ or the ‘Mansion by the Lake’ titled ‘Le Domaine’ in French.

September 2022 also marked the 20th anniversary of the release of Wekande Walauwwe, produced by Chandran Rutnam

The Chekov-inspired ‘Wekande Walauwa’, was Sri Lanka's first-ever submission to the Academy Awards. It was also screened at Cannes in 2003 as part of the Official Selection.

Lester James Peries (Photo credit – Dayan Witharana)