CINEJ


 

    

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other"  

Female Filmmakers 
Lanka Bandaranayake, Independent Researcher, lankabandaranayake@ymail.com 

 

 

Abstract 

Sri Lanka is a small-scale industry in the Global South. The hegemonic patriarchy of the industry, 

accelerated by various industrial, socio-political, and cultural matters directly affects the 

representation of women’s cinema in the country. This study aims to look at the female 

representation throughout the entire evolution of Sri Lankan women’s cinema and the state of their 

filmmaking practices, which is a rare study area. Further, the examination of the historical context 

and current trends of this paper will further seek to provide insights into the future development of 

the representation of women in Sri Lankan cinema. 

Keywords: Sri Lanka; Woman; Female; filmmaker; short films 

 

 

New articles in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 United States License. 

 

This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part  

of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press.

Volume 12.1 (2024)  |  ISSN 2158-8724 (online)  |  DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

http://www.library.pitt.edu/
http://www.pitt.edu/
http://www.library.pitt.edu/articles/digpubtype/index.html
http://www.upress.pitt.edu/upressIndex.aspx
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/


           CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers  

Volume 12.1 (2024)  |  ISSN 2158-8724 (online)  |  DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
       242 

Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other"  

Female Filmmakers 

Lanka Bandaranayake 

 

Introduction 

As a small-scale industry in the Global South, the agonies of Sri Lankan cinema over 

various industrial, socio-political, and cultural matters have been directly affecting women’s 

cinema from the beginning to date. The survival of the early female filmmakers in the largely 

male-dominated industry and their presence in making films at that moment were rarely celebrated, 

with the perception that their filmmaking made no real contribution to the development of Sri 

Lankan women's cinema. Contemporary female filmmakers and their contributions to the cinema 

industry are also rarely taken into account due to various industrial policies and procedures. As a 

result, the entire evolution of women’s cinema and the journey of female filmmakers is vague 

throughout Sri Lankan cinema history.   

This study aims to shed light on how female filmmakers, both female directors and 

producers, in Sri Lanka survived amidst the hegemonic patriarchy in the industry and society at 

large, also, how it affects their representation and their filmmaking practice. Further, the 

examination of the historical context and current cinema trends will further seek to provide insights 

into the future development of women in Sri Lankan cinema.  



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
243 

Multiple determinants of Sri Lankan women who worked so far in the cinema industry and 

their filmmaking practices are attempted to discover in this study. Case study methods and in-

depth interviews have been used as the study methodology.  Secondary data such as formal 

records released by the Sri Lankan Film Corporation to study cases of Sri Lankan films released 

by female filmmakers in the local theatres, and interviews and personal conversations used to 

gather data on other female filmmakers.  

The word, “other” is widely used globally to describe the phenomenon of women being 

framed as “The Other,” while men are the self and subject, since the feminist scholar, Simone de 

Beauvoir first used the term in her book, The Second Sex (Selinger 2004: 2). In this text, the word 

“Other’ is used to explain the wider industry matter of the exclusion of contemporary female 

filmmakers from recognition as filmmakers and the absence of their filmmaking practices in 

recorded Sri Lankan history. This will further explain how the globalization of cinema industries 

impacts those contemporary other female filmmakers, and ultimately how it affects the future of 

Sri Lankan woman cinema.  

A History 

It took 32 years since the beginning of Sri Lankan filmmaking history1 for female filmmakers to 

mark their opening footprint on the silver screen as filmmakers in the largely male-dominated early 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

244 

Sri Lankan cinema industry until, in 1957, Rukmani Devi joined as the producer of the film, 

Siriyalatha (1957). Further, it took 40 years for a Sri Lankan woman to direct a film until Florida 

Jayalath joined as the co-director of Sweep Ticket (1965) with Raja Joshua. Even though more 

women eventually entered the industry, the growth of women's cinema did not suffice to end the 

persistence of male dominance in the industry due to the slow changes in the larger social, political, 

and cultural hegemonies of patriarchy in Sri Lankan society.  

Female Film Directors in Records 

The cases of all female directors from the beginning of Sri Lankan cinema to date reveal 

that there are three main folds that can be identified during the entire Sri Lankan women’s cinema 

history. 

1. Actresses who entered film directing but did not continue their filmmaking practices. 

2. Actresses who entered film directing and continued to practice as filmmakers while working as 

actors. 

3. Women who entered film directing, continued to practice filmmaking and other off-camera 

positions. 

The above-mentioned female filmmakers, Rukmani Devi and Florida Jayalath can be included in 

the first category; actresses who entered film directing but did not continue their filmmaking 

practices. As there are local traditional barriers that prevented women from entering many sectors 

of life and society, very few women in any authoritative positions in the early cinema industry 

other than as actresses (Abeysekera 1989: 57). Therefore, in the early era, women who opened the 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
245 

path for entering filmmaking were those who were already established as an actress. Both Rukmani 

and Florida started their careers as actresses and were pioneering actresses in the early Sri Lankan 

cinema era; Rukmani is the protagonist of the first Sri Lankan talking picture production, 

Kadawunu Poronduwa (1947), and Florida started her acting career in 1951 from the film 

Sengawunu Pilitura (1951). After them, veteran actress Ruby de Mel directed and produced her 

debut film, Pipena Kumudu (1967) and Rohini Jayakody directed her debut, Hangi Hora (1968). 

However, after the mentioned films, the careers of those actresses continued as earlier, and there 

is no evidence of them making their second film during their lifetime.  

According to film scholar and feminist, Sunila Abesekara, these film actresses who have turned to 

filmmaking have not made any real contribution to the development of Sri Lankan cinema 

(Abeysekera 1989: 54). However, film scholars such as Denise Lowe said “All the pioneering 

women were important to the industry” (Lowe 2014: vii). That thought emphasizes the value and 

need of recognising the early female filmmakers and the state of their filmmaking practices in 

order to build a historical foundation for a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of 

women’s cinema. The acknowledgement will also allow future filmmakers to learn from the 

successes and struggles of their predecessors which enabling them to navigate similar challenges 

and make informed decisions.  



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

246 

The most prominent actress who entered film directing and continued to practice as a 

filmmaker while working as an actor is Malini Fonseka. She started her acting career in the film, 

Punchi Baba in 1968 and acted in more than 150 feature films to date (Asia Pacific Screen Awards 

2023) She entered film directing by directing and producing the film, Sthree (1991) and unlike the 

above-mentioned actresses, she continued directing films parallel to her acting. She owns director 

credits for her films,  

o Sthree (1991) 

o Sasara Chethana (1984) 

o Ahinsa (1987) 

o Sthree (1991)  

o Sandamadala (1994) 

However, her glory as an actress is more widely celebrated today than her as a director 

(Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2023).   

There we can identify four females who entered film directing without a career in acting and 

continued to practice filmmaking and other off-camera positions; Sumitra Peries, Inoka 

Sathyangani, Sumathi Sivamohan and Najini Dikkovita. Among them, the most prominent 

director, Sumitra started with an off-camera role as an editor in 1963, working as an editor in 

Gamperaliya (1963). In 1978, Sumitra released her debut film, Gehenu Lamai, (Doraiswamy and 

Padgaonkar eds 2011). Her filmography is filled with 10 credits as a director of films, 

o Gahanu Lamai (1978)  

o Gaga Addara (1980) 

o Yahalu Yeheli (1982) 

o Maya (1984)  

o Sagara Jalaya Madi Haduwa Oba Handa (1988) 

o Loku Duwa (1996) 

o Duwata Mawaka Misa (1997) 

o Sakman Maluwa (2003) 

o Yahaluwo (2007) 

o Vaishnavee (2018)  

 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
247 

She also worked in other off-camera positions such as producing, writing, and in the art 

department. She produced the film, Desa Nisa (1972) and worked as the artistic consultant for 

Wekande Walauwa (2002), both films directed by Lester James Peries. Her contribution to Sri 

Lankan cinema was largely admired locally and internationally, and even people from the industry 

and society at large started to address her as the "first woman filmmaker" in the industry (The 

Morning 2023). This wrong identification prevented the recognition of the equal contribution of 

other women filmmakers who worked before her and, most importantly, the wider discussion about 

Sri Lankan women’s cinema and its evolution. 

Inoka Sathyangani theatrically released her internationally and nationally acclaimed 

award-winning directorial debut, Sulang Kirilli, in 2003 (Sunday Observer 2003 and Welabada 

2004). After that, there was a 13-year of silence for Inoka until the release of her commercially 

successful film, Cinderella, in 2016 (Galappathti 2018), and until today, she did not release her 

next film. 

Sumathi Sivamohan is the only Tamil female film director who has released a film in Sri 

Lanka so far is Sumathi Sivamohan. She released her film, Ingirunda (Hera and Now), in 2013 

(Galappathti 2018). Even though she made more films after that, she never released those films in 

Sri Lankan theatres until today. 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

248 

Najini Dikkovita is the next female director who occupied the Sri Lankan silver screen is 

Najini Dikkovita with the release of her debut film, Ruhire, in 2022. She had been working as an 

assistant director on films before the release of her debut directorial (Fernando 2023). The 

memories of Sumithra and Inoka crashing into the existing male-dominated Sri Lankan cinema 

industry provided a very important insight into the industry and the society of her time. 

The memories of Sumithra crashing into the existing male-dominated Sri Lankan cinema industry 

as below, 

"At the time when I entered the world of films, it was alien to many. People were not 

keen on sending their daughters to this uncharted world of filmmaking, acting and 

directing. Having studied filmmaking at the London School of Filmmaking and 

Conservatoire Independent Du Cinema Francaise in Paris I was determined to put my 

knowledge into practice…There are limitations that exist both physically and socially 

when a woman tries her hand at filmmaking. I am happy that I was able to overcome 

these and I am glad that there are many fifth-generations of filmmakers who are now 

exploring many innovative avenues for producing and directing films where there were 

social taboos before" (Peiris 2006) 

 

Inoka Sathyangani shared her below thoughts during one of the interviews, 

"I am happy that 28 years after Sumithra Peiris began directing films, I was able to 

bring out my first film, representing the new women generation of filmmakers. Yet, 

male artists do not like to consider a young female as a leader. I had to ignore and 

struggle against such attitudes. If I was not strong-minded enough to make my own 

decisions regardless of consequences, I would have left the film industry many years 

ago" (Sathyangani 2003) 

 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
249 

The above two thoughts from Sumithra and Inoka conclude the all-time challenges of 

women in male-dominated Sri Lankan cinema, which further confirms the genuine importance of 

recognizing all female filmmakers and their works so far in the industry. 

The below chart reflects the gender inequity in the Sri Lankan film industry. 

 

(The information was gathered from the book, The Query of Sri Lankan Movie Catalogue by Ajith Galappathti, 

published in 2018 by the National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka.) 

The number of films directed by men and women that were shown in Sri Lankan theatres 

between the introduction of talkies in 1947 and 2016 is shown in the aforementioned graph. The 

data demonstrates that between 1947 and 1986, there was a consistent upward trend in the number 

of films directed by male filmmakers. They released 38 movies in the first ten years of their careers, 

from 1947 to 1956, and a maximum of 299 movies from 1977 to 1986. Then, between 2007 and 

2016, there were 178 films, a tiny downward trend. Despite growing and fluctuating with male 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

250 

directors, the release of films by female directors was always at a fairly modest level. There was 

no release of films from women directors in the country in the 1947-1956 period, but by 1977-

1986, the number had increased to a maximum of five pictures. Again, five films were directed by 

women during the 1987-1996 period, however, from 1997-2006 and 2007-2016 periods, only three 

films were directed by women, following the downward trend of male filmmakers.  

Now there is a question of whether they are all the female directors on the Sri Lankan silver 

screen so far. The answer to such a question is, yes because they are all female filmmakers who 

have released their films in Sri Lankan theatres. Are they all female directors in Sri Lankan 

cinema? The answer is a big NO to that question. Sumithra also confirmed that no in her above 

interview, as she stated to "many fifth generations of filmmakers." Then, where are those women 

filmmakers, or, in other words, where are those OTHER female filmmakers? 

Before jumping into finding answers to that question, let’s look at the female film 

producers in Sri Lankan cinema history and their status in making films. 

Cases of Female Producers 

 In contrast to female film directors, a slightly higher number of female film producers can 

be found in Sri Lankan cinema history.  The below chart reflects the state of female film producers 

in the Sri Lankan cinema industry. 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
251 

 

(The information was gathered from the book, The Query of Sri Lankan Movie Catalogue by Ajith Galappathti, 

published in 2018 by the National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka.) 

 

The graph above displays the proportion of women who produced movies that were 

screened in Sri Lankan theatres between 1947 and 2016. The data show that there was a steady 

rise in the proportion of women working as producers in the film industry from 1947 to 1996, 

followed by a modest fall until 2016. There were no female producers in the industry between 

1947 and 1956, and the first two produced films between 1957 and 1966. Despite the fall in local 

movie releases after 1977-1986, there can be seen a steady increase in female producers until 1997-

2006 and the maximum number of 57 females joined producing during the period.  



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

252 

 That might be because producing is not much more challenging due to local film practice, 

and that encouraged more women to join as producers than other off-camera roles. For instance, 

the typical practice of producing a film in the Sri Lankan industry releases producers from 

physically producing the film in their workflow. Even the producer’s presence on the film set 

during shooting is not considered mandatory. The producer’s responsibilities and duties, such as 

overseeing and involvement in development planning, execution, marketing, distribution, etc., are 

often mutually shared between the director and/or production manager. However, the absence of 

the producer’s role and physical contribution generates numerous complexities in the production 

workflow, such as the timely completion and outcome of the film. That is mainly because the 

directors’ focus is divided among creative aspects and overseeing production needs, and 

production managers are also under pressure from the extra workload. The person who owns the 

title of producer often plays the executive producer’s role. However, that is also the typical 

financier’s role in the film of investing money and sitting back until profit is generated. Since this 

local practice of producing films does not require much workflow knowledge, locals in various 

other fields are often interested in investing their extra money in films and/or starting a filmmaking 

business parallel to their other businesses. The most prominent female producer so far in the Sri 

Lankan industry, Soma Edirisingha, is the best example to describe the local industry phenomenon. 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
253 

 

Soma was one of the top businesswomen and social workers in Sri Lanka. She also owned 

one of the top film business companies in the country, E.A.P. Films & Theatres Private Limited 

(Daily News 2015). She produced 20 films, from Dhawala Pushpaya (1994) to Ko Mark No Mark 

(2014), most of which earned the highest profit according to local box office records. For instance, 

her films such as Rosa Vasanthaya (2001), directed by Udaya Warnasooriya, became the most 

profit-earning films of the year, grossing an income of LKR 20,012,492.84 (Sunday Observer 

2001). Her commercially successful comedy film, Ra Daniyel Dawal Migel (1998) by Roy De 

Silva, and drama romance film, Rosa Wasanthaya (2001) by Ranjan Ramanayaka, won the Most 

Famous Film Award of the Year at the Sarasaviya Awards in 1999 and 2002 (Sunday Observer 

2001). The reporter, Ruwini Jayawardana acknowledged her involvement as a producer as below, 

“…She had produced some of the most success Sinhala films and attributes her success 

to the fact that she discusses the projects in advance with the director and never 

interferes in between (Jayawardana 2009).” 

Even though this statement intends to thank Soma and be grateful for her contribution, it 

reflects the above-discussed matter; the absence of the procedure’s role in the film they produce. 

Further, it should be highlighted that, even though this example is about Soma, a female producer, 

that is the typical procedure of most of those who are titled as producers, regardless of gender. 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

254 

However, that can be seen as a changing phenomenon in contemporary filmmaking, especially 

with Sri Lankan filmmakers’ exposure to international platforms. Yet the practice is still legitimate 

and widely used in most local filmmaking. 

The early phase of the producer’s enthusiasm to produce aesthetic and realistic cinema 

shifted towards a profit-driven primary motive that produced pure entertaining work. That shift 

was drastically visible after the launch of the liberal capitalistic strategy, The Open Economy 

(Jayatilaka 2016 and Senevirathne 2016) because the producers with profit-driven motives decided 

what kind of films are made in Sri Lanka. This structural and ideological changes in the local 

cinema industry were termed by Scholer, S.S.A. Senevirathne as “The Paradigm Shift of Sri 

Lankan Cinema” (Senevirathne 2016. Pp. 52). He explained this cinema industry shift as follows, 

“Sri Lanka, in its exposure to the post-industrial, global capital since 1977 when its 

gates were opened to the external world, underwent great structural and ideological 

changes which can be termed as a ‘paradigm shift’ (The Structure of the Scientific 

Revolutions 1964) as the structure itself was not what it was a decade ago…The 

aesthetic and the realistic cinema of the pre-open market economy in Sri Lanka were 

mainly based on the restricted capital provided by local producers whose ideological 

basement was purely to produce entertaining works but a small number of filmmakers 

were interested in radical works but with a poor financial background and thereby 

could hardly reach global esteem” (Senevirathne 2016: 52). 

As this paper is about female filmmakers, the case of Soma Edirisingha will again be drawn 

in as an example of this phenomenon. Her profit-driven motivation over the quality was stated in 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
255 

Senevirathne's paper, The paradigm shift of Sri Lankan Cinema: A Study Of Reflections And 

Repercussions In The Cinema After Introducing The Open Economy In 1977, 

“…Dr Sarath Amunugama who was a front-lined film enthusiastic in Sri Lanka had interpreted 

this situation as ‘money collecting’(Amunugama 1990). Dr. Amunugama, as the very first 

chairman of the National Film Corporation, 1972, uses that important two words ‘money 

collecting’. This situation is rather identical for today merely. In few years ago when film critic 

Ajith Galappatthi criticized Soma Edirisingghe’s cheap films, on behalf of EAP, Soma 

Edirisinghe states that “I do not care the film critics for a dead cent (thambasathaya)”. Even 

today in the globalized society, the capitalist traders do not concern on artistic value or cultural 

ground rules, but only chasing money...” (Senevirathne 2016: 56) 

However, it should be mentioned that even though Soma’s productions were criticized, 

among all other commercial films, according to Galappaththi, as "cheap films”, she produced 

internationally and nationally acclaimed award-winning arthouse films such as Ira Madiyama 

(2005) by Prasanna Vithanage and Seliama (1995) by H.D. Premarathna. 

The most important factor that should be highlighted in this paper in regards to the inquiry 

into Sri Lankan woman cinema is that she never produced any films from female filmmakers, even 

though she worked a lot for empowering women in her wider social services (Ceylon Business 

Reporter 2015 and films.lk 2023). 

If we move forward to find cases of other female producers, there can find several other 

motives other than profit among them to produce films. For instance, husbands and wives or 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

256 

business partners produce films together as a collective investment of the money they earn from 

their businesses. 

Among them, the most prominent producer-partners are Soniya Disanayaka and Sunil T. 

Together, they produced 16 films, from Jaya Apatai (1986) to Koti Sana (1999) (Padmasiri 2017 

and Galappathti 2018). Most of them are commercially successful action and romance films. They 

also produced films in the Adults Only category in which stories dealt with sexual jealousy and 

revenge that contained nudity and sex acts (Films.lk 2023). 

Then it can find wives who produced films of their husbands such as Renuka Balasooriya, 

Damayanthi Fonseka, and Samanmali Hewamanna. Renuka Balasooriya produced 13 films, from 

Saroja (2000) to Tsunami (2020), which were directed by her spouse, Somaratne Dissanayake. 

Most of their films were stories about children and young adults. However, other than her spouse, 

Renuka produced two internationally acclaimed arthouse films from other directors: Sankara 

(2007) by Prasanna Jayakody and Burning Birds (2016) by Sanjeewa Pushpakumara, both films 

were internationally acclaimed award-winning arthouse films. She also worked as an executive 

producer in Thanha Rathi Ranga (2014) and Wherever (2013), co-producer in Kusa Paba (2012), 

and production manager in Siri Raja Siri (2008). In addition to them, Damayanthi Fonseka, who 

is also an actress, produced two films with her husband, Prasanna Withanage: Anantha Rathriya 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
257 

(2001) and Pura Handa Kaluwara (2001). Samanmali Hewamanna produced three films with her 

husband Bennat Rathnayaka, Aswasuma (2001), Sulanga (2005), and Ira Handa Yata (2010). 

However, just like Soma, neither of these female producers ever produced female directors’ films. 

The only prominent female producer who produced female directors’ films was, Milina 

Sumathipala. She only produced four films, and two of them are Sumithra Pieris’s films, Ganga 

Addara (1980) and Duwata Mawaka Misa (1997). The other two films are Paththini (2016) and 

Uthpalawanna (2007), both directed by male director, Sunil Ariyaratne. Even though those two 

films were directed by a male director, the stories revolved around strong female 

protagonists.  Despite the fact that those films are reflections of existent male dominancy and 

patriarchal ideologies, her approaches reflect her motive for quality over profit and genuine interest 

in the development of women's cinema within her capacity and knowledge. As this paper is 

focused on recognising female filmmakers and the state of their filmmaking practices throughout 

cinema history rather than an in-depth analysis of the films they made, let us move forward to 

inquire about the motives of the rest of the female producers: Sri Lankan actresses as film 

producers. 

Below is a list of actresses-producers extracted from the book, The Query of Sri Lanka's 

Movie Catalogue by Ajith Galappathti, published in 2018 by the National Film Corporation of Sri 

Lanka. 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

258 

• Sumana Amarasingha 

Tom Pachaya (1977), Thana Girau (1982), Sudu Piruwata (1994), Jonson and Gonson (2001) 

• Neeta Fernando 

Suriyakantha (1981), Pauru Walalu (1999), Nisala Gira (2007), Bambara Walalla (2010) 

• Anojaa Weerasingha 

Kala Mal (1982), Obata Diwra Kiyannam (1985), Obata Rahasak Kiyannam (1989), 

Kelimadala (1991), Juliyatge Bhomikawa (1998) 

• Geetha Kumarasingha 

Chalitha Rangali (1985), Palama Yata (1990), Salambak Hadai (1991), Loku Duwa (1996) 

Anuragaye Ananthaya (2000) 

• Sureni Senarath 

Mal Warusa (1986) 

• Nadeeka Gunasekara 

Ahinsa (1987), Eya Obata Barai (1998) 

• Shriyani Amarasena 

Dase Mal Pipila (1990), Tharanaya (1997) 

• Thalatha Gunasekara 

Eya Obata Barai (1998) 

• Sanoja Bibile 

Alu Yata Gini (2005) 

• Sangeetha Weerarathna 

Sewwandi (2006) 

• Sachini Ayendra 

Angara Dagara (2011) 

All of the above actresses are successful box-office stars in mainstream cinema of the 

popular genre. The motive of those actresses to becoming producers can be identified as their 

strategy of investing the economic capital they earned from cinema to earn symbolic value as well 

as the market value that facilitates their climb to the next level in the industry as actresses. For 

instance, they put the money they earned from cinema back into producing films that featured 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
259 

strong female lead characters or at least strong supporting characters played by those actresses. 

These investments met their need to play their own desired characters, and also, helped them 

demonstrate their acting capacity by playing challenging as well as multi-dimensional characters. 

Further, some are arthouse films, which had more or less the potential to fulfil these actresses’ 

ultimate goal of being honored by winning awards at local and global film festivals. The below 

thoughts of Anojaa Weerasinge and Geetha Kumarasingha reflect their motives for producing 

films. 

“…In commercial films, characters are very similar. You find yourself acting out the 

same situation over and over again. There's nothing to learn from this type of acting...in 

the three artistic films I mentioned, I feel I have achieved something as an actress…in 

an artistic film, you find flesh and blood characters. I can always find a similar 

experience in my life, or in the lives of women I know and observe. When one gets to 

play such a character, more than the money, it gives you a huge sense of satisfaction. 

The "make-believe" characters are fun to do, our fans like them, and they make us 

popular stars; yet, as an actress, I prefer the "real" roles” (Weerasinghe 1989) 

 

“…I was very happy when I won the award for the best actress for my performance as 

Dotty in Palama Yata. My happiness was unlimited and really thrilling. Thereafter, I 

won several other awards for my performance…Even if your first attempt is a success, 

you should not be proud until you repeat it and reach the top…” (Kumarasinghe 2005) 

These actresses often widely shared their interest in contributing to the improvement of 

female society, however, they merely reflected their interest in the development of Sri Lankan 

women’s cinema. For instance, among them, only two of them produced female directors’ films: 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

260 

Geetha Kumarasingha produced Loku Duwa (1996) by Sumithra Pieris, who played Punna. 

Nadeeka Gunasekara co-produced Ahinsa (1987) by Malani Fonseka while playing a supporting 

role. Malini is the other co-producer of the film. 

Further, these actresses often contradict their own vision, position, interests, and motives 

in their careers as actresses as well as producers. In many interviews, they have always spoken of 

the empathy they feel for the female characters they play in films. Those thoughts also reflect their 

interest in growing towards a more feminist, and less feminine visual and cinematic interpretation 

of the reality of Sri Lankan women. Contrary, they often served the existing patriarchal ideologies, 

For instance, Loku Duwa (1996), produced by Geetha Kumarasingha is about the struggle 

of an elderly daughter to survive with her mother and siblings after her father, the breadwinner of 

the family, died suddenly and her lover is discovered to be an impostor (Loku Duwa 1996). As 

such Geetha did several other strong female characters in her career and she won awards for most 

of them. In one of the interviews, for the question of the interviewer, “I saw your performance in 

the current film Ran Diya Dahara as an excellent portrayal of a typical Sri Lankan woman straining 

under economic, social and domestic constraints. How do you yourself feel in that role?” Geetha 

Kumarasingha said, 

“The character of Amali was lingering in my mind for some time. It is a character of 

a true woman. A happy marriage is the dream of every woman. For her, marriage is 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
261 

sacred. Amali had a baby without a marriage. So, she longed for a marriage; even to 

be a widow satisfied her desire. It gave her a shadow of marriage in full bridal attire” 

(Kumarasinghe 2005) 

Then again in the same interview, Geetha said, 

“Once the cinema fails to entertain the people, the industry will have to suffer. Cinema 

cannot be reduced to a stage or TV screen. We now underexpose the beauty of the 

feminine figure which is vital for popular cinema. At the rate we are going, the rest of 

the world would say that ours is a country where there are no beautiful women” 

(Kumarasinghe 2005) 

It is true that Sri Lankan cinema has lost its glorious era due to industry matters as well as many 

social, political, and cultural matters, and now, everyone who are in the industry should try to find 

ways to develop it back. yet, the entertainment factor alone is not enough to attract contemporary 

audiences to the cinema and it is proven throughout the Sri Lankan cinema history. For instance, 

as mentioned before in this paper, after the open economy in 1977, producers started to make films 

only targeting the entertainment factor, and it is considered the start of the decline of the glorious 

era of Sri Lankan cinema. That could not be recovered until today even after the two decades. 

Moreover, on one hand, the viewpoint of exposing the beauty of the feminine figure to attract 

audiences also cannot be justified in this new digital era, because there we can find unlimited 

videos of a pool of beauty queens on the internet, further, if anyone needed, beauties around the 

world in various nudity levels with a few clicks away nowadays on our smartphones. On the other 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

262 

hand, the objectification of women in cinema and the pervasive use of the male gaze has been 

highly criticized subjects in the global film industry for a long time (Gavazzi and Staff 2022). 

Further, there are wider and continuous discourses on how to further reduce the presence of women 

from a heterosexual male perspective, focusing on their appearance and presenting women as 

objects of desire (Riley 2016). Sri Lankan cinema industry and society at large, are also in vast 

need of growing awareness and pushing for change for objectification and the male gaze in cinema 

that perpetuate gender stereotypes, reinforce unequal power dynamics, and limit the representation 

of women by narrowing down towards the hypersexualized role of woman.  

The conclusion of all the Sri Lankan women producers’ cases reflects that the enthusiasm 

of most of them to produce films often interlaced with various other motivations, intentions and 

requirements, and they co-existed in the shape of professional producer-director collaboration. 

Further, these cases reflect that the Western knowledge of women decision-makers in cinema has 

an impact on the development of women in cinema (Layne 2021) is not so true in highly male-

dominated industries such as Sri Lanka for main three reasons. The first one is that the slow-

changing gender stereotypes in society at large (Priyashantha 2023), produce female leaders who 

do not believe in gender equity and are unable to understand the contribution and value of equal 

women representation in their industries. They are further trapped in their own patriarchal paradox 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
263 

of gender bias, stereotypes and family responsibilities. The second one is females who climbed to 

the top policy-making or decision-making level, still in their own struggle for survival and/or 

continuing to fight to secure their position at the top among the male dominance, are not capable 

of giving much to the other females. Further, being in a leader’s position does not always mean 

being a leader, having leadership qualities and having decision-making power. The third and most 

paradoxical reason is that some female leaders simply do not have any idea what it means to be 

equal or inclusive.  

Female directors in finding local producers 

Among all those long-grown socio-political and cultural matters, female film directors 

continuously failed to find opportunities to thrive and grow, either giving up the industry or starting 

to produce their films by themselves.  

Gender stereotypes, same-gender preferences, and organizational variation in the hiring of 

women are common global issues that female filmmakers have suffered from since the beginning 

of world cinema (Fulford and Hamilton 2023). The hardship of finding producers for Sri Lankan 

female filmmakers can also be identified as a local version of that global phenomenon. However, 

when contemporary global discourse adequately pushes industries to decrease gender disparities 

in representation and power in cinema (Layne 2021), Sri Lanka almost never addresses and/or 

rarely highlights such issues. Since Sri Lankan discourse on the positive development of twenty-



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

264 

first-century women’s society has not been very effective, the traditional interpretations of Sri 

Lankan women are widely established in society (Priyashantha 2023). This establishment of 

gender stereotypes directly affects the representation of Sri Lankan women in all kinds of off-

camera positions, including women directing films. 

Further, even when social movements and awareness campaigns such as MeToo have been 

motivating many individuals and organizations to take action to address these sexual misconducts 

and unfair opportunity share (Dockterman 2015 and Constable 2019), Sri Lankan female 

filmmakers did not gain much from such movements as well. For instance, while the MeToo 

movement has been widely pushing to include more women’s participation in the cinema industry 

until today (Layne 2021), it has not had any lasting effects in Sri Lanka (Devana 2022) other than 

launching a ceremony with the Sri Lanka visit of the Hollywood actress, Ashley Judd (Colombo 

Gazette 2018), and few local females revealing their experiences under the MeToo hashtag (The 

Moring 2021). 

Four out of the eight female directors, mentioned at the beginning of this paper, entered 

film directing either by producing their debut films by themselves or by their spouses. Sumitra 

Peries’s debut film, Gahanu Lamai (1978), was produced by her spouse, Lester James Peries. The 

first two films by Malani Fonseka were produced by her. All the films so far released were of 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
265 

Inoka Sathyangani and Sumathi Sivamohan produced by themselves. Those statuses reflect the 

struggle of most Sri Lankan female directors to find producers at their entry-level and at different 

stages in their careers as directors. 

Another aspect of the female film directors’ challenges is that most of them are passionate 

about the films they make, and their primary motive is cinematic quality over profit. Therefore, 

the majority of profit-driven Sri Lankan producers do not attract them unless these filmmakers, by 

themselves, find ways to prove that their films can also make profits, or at least they will not be 

flopped, either nationally or internationally. For instance, as mentioned earlier, Sumitra Peiris’s 

husband is the producer of her debut film, Gahanu Lamai (1978). The film was highly acclaimed 

both nationally and internationally and her aesthetic quality in filmmaking had been a signature of 

her as a director. Her achievements in the early stages of her career became a motivation for 

producers to work on her next projects. Later she had become a successful award-winning film 

director both nationally and internationally and even she was nicknamed the “Poetess of Sinhala 

Cinema” (Tampoe-Hautin 2011) 

Among other film directors, Malani Fonseka is one of the most privileged directors in Sri 

Lankan cinema. That is because, as one of the top actresses and the biggest brand name in the Sri 

Lankan cinema industry who is nicknamed “The Queen of Sinhala cinema” (Uvais 2020), she 

already had a reputation, industry network, and most importantly, a fan base when she came to 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

266 

film directing. However, despite this background, she produced the first two films by herself. She 

shared her struggle with making her debut film, Sasara Chethana in 1984 as below, 

“When producers moved away from making films, I took a huge risk in the early 

eighties and made ‘Sasara Chethana’. I got a loan from the Peoples’ Bank and settled 

the loan up to the last cent because the film did well at the box office. This actually 

motivated so many people to produce films and among them were my film world 

colleagues. Even Peoples’ Bank started giving loans to filmmakers after the success of 

my film. We have made umpteen sacrifices for the welfare of our industry” (Fonseka 

2020) 

Later, after the success of her films, Malani worked with two other producers for her next 

two films. However, one other motive can be seen in her making those films other than just coming 

to a directing. That is to play the roles that she desired because she played the main roles in all 

those four films while directing them. 

Even after a successful entry into the industry with her debut film which led to attracting 

producers for her next films, Inoka Sathyangani ended up producing her next film again by herself, 

because she decided not to compromise her way of filmmaking, creative freedom, and vision in 

order to work with a producer.  

Inoka’s debut directorial film, Sulang Kirilli (2003), became an international success, 

receiving several official selections at major international film festivals, and she won the 

FIPRESCI Prize and Jury Prize for Best Asian Film at the Dhaka International Film Festival in 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
267 

2004. The protagonist, Damitha Abeyratne, also won the Jury Prize for Best Actress at the same 

festival. Again, Inoka was nominated for the Golden Precolumbian Circle award for Best Film at 

the Bogota Film Festival in 2003 and for the Tokyo Grand Prix award at the Tokyo International 

Film Festival in 2002. Even though her success became a motivation for local producers to work 

with her, she ended up deciding to keep full creative freedom and waited years until she was 

financially strong enough to produce the next film by herself. Inoka shared her experience during 

an interview and said, 

“Three local filmmakers requested me to make a movie during the past eight years. I 

even wrote a script for a producer but soon realised that I cannot do what I really have 

in mind for the movie. My personal satisfaction is important to me. I should be able to 

enjoy making the film as well as watching it. I need to be honest to my creation rather 

than use it as a mere money-making machine. I engaged in making documentaries 

during the past few years and decided to stay away from cinema till I get a chance to 

make a movie the way I want” (Sathyangani 2011). 

That seems like an easy way out for filmmakers like Inoka, who has a very strong and clear 

vision for her film and also has some financial freedom to produce films by herself. Further, it 

saves the extra energy that would be consumed in finding a producer who is a perfect match and/or 

the nightmare of altering the original vision to fit the producer’s needs. However, her case is a loud 

alarm that reminds us of the need to overcome the broader local industrial matters from which 

most Sri Lankan filmmakers suffer, regardless of gender. That is the absence of a proper local 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

268 

support system or mechanism that facilitates producer-director collaborations such as film 

markets, pitching events and industry network gatherings. 

Further, the cases of all these female directors and producers so far on the silver screen 

emphasize the long journey of contemporary female filmmakers in order to end this historical 

marginalization of female filmmakers in Sri Lankan cinema. These cases further make the ground 

to emphasise the importance of recognising the contemporary female filmmakers who are absent 

in the local records, hence, mentioned as “others” in this paper. 

 

Other females as filmmakers 

Several major factors should be considered from a creative as well as an administrative 

standpoint in recognizing those “others” as “filmmakers,” many, once again, is a fundamental issue 

that is common to any local filmmaker, regardless of gender. 

One of the major factors that should be looked at in this other female filmmaker’s case is 

the issue of not updating industrial policies according to contemporary industry changes. To 

formally identify someone as a filmmaker, the film should be registered with the National Film 

Corporation and screened in local theatres. Although it seems like a sophisticated method that has 

been followed from the beginning until today, the policy excludes many filmmakers who have not 

theatrically released their films. 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
269 

With contemporary local industry issues such as declining audiences during the last two 

decades due to various industrial, socio-political and cultural matters (Robinson 2018), and with 

the local theatres beginning to close down or be abandoned due to the loss of local audiences 

(Editor 2021) most filmmakers started to look for other distribution methods to reach audiences. 

Further, there is a local industry issue where filmmakers must wait years in line for their theatrical 

releases (Fernando 2018). Those seem to accelerate the growth of alternative distribution methods 

such as VOD platforms, YouTube, and social media among contemporary filmmakers 

(Buthgumwa 2022). Those online methods are attractive because of their capability to reach mass 

audiences by transcending geographical barriers. Further, they are advantageous for small-scale 

industries such as Sri Lanka, specifically in reaching diasporic audiences. The COVID-19 

pandemic also accelerated online film releases as traditional cinema halls remained closed in many 

parts of the world, making VOD platforms and social media an even more important avenue for 

film distribution. This trend is continuing even after the pandemic subsides, as audiences have 

become more accustomed to consuming content online (Buthgumwa 2022 and Weerasooriya 

2022). Therefore, most contemporary filmmakers nowadays release their films on such platforms, 

instead of releasing them in the theatres. Then according to the above government identification 

procedure, those films and filmmakers are unable to be included in their records, hence, no formal 

identification as filmmakers. 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

270 

Further, commercial films are often taking advantage of profit-driven private sector 

distribution monopolies and arthouse films are pushed back with the belief of no local market. 

With the absence of any specific local theatres dedicated to arthouse films, locally vulnerable 

arthouse filmmakers turn towards international audiences around international film festivals 

(Dodangoda and Hettiarachchi 2019), overlooking the national cinema market. Those films only 

manage to make a few screenings locally at specific events, such as private screenings organized 

by the filmmakers themselves, universities, cultural groups, and monthly screenings of 

organizations such as the Goethe Institution. In most cases, the films are exposed to selected 

audiences mainly around the main city, Colombo, or the suburbs. As these films locally did not 

screen in theatres, even though they are international award-winning films, those filmmakers will 

not be included in the local records, hence, will not be formally identified as filmmakers. Mostly, 

even very few people in the local industry know those filmmakers. For instance, the film Talking 

With the Wind (2017), directed by Jayashika Padmasiri, premiered at the 2017 Montreal World 

Film Festival under the category “Focusing on World Cinema”. Filmmaker and film scholar, 

Sumathi Sivamohan’s award-winning debut film, Sons and Fathers (2017), was distributed 

internationally in 2017 through international film festivals. The debut film of Suba Sivakumaran, 

House of My Fathers (2018), was screened at festivals, such as the International Film Festival 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
271 

Rotterdam in 2019, where it was part of its “Bright Future” section. Any of those films and 

filmmakers were not included in local records as they had not yet been screened in Sri Lankan 

theatres. 

Throughout local cinema history, there is no record of the release of documentaries in 

theatres (Galappaththi 2018). The most notable Sri Lankan female documentary filmmaker, 

Anomaa Rakajaruna highlighted this issue as follows, 

“Country without documentary filmmaking is like a home without a family 

album…Due to the lack of documentary understanding, the country is losing the 

opportunity to record its audio-visual history” (Rajakaruna 2011). 

Even though, this lack of local attention to documentary films led to a belief that no local 

audience for documentaries, which is problematic because local documentaries that had been 

distributed on television and/or VOD, YouTube, and social media and some of them reached very 

good mass audiences. Some documentary filmmakers target the outside market by mainly going 

through the international film festival circuit. The filmmaking journey of Anomaa is the best 

example to look at the issue. Her directorial debut is the 1983 telefilm Sonduriya, which was 

broadcast on national television, Rupavahini. Since then, she has been making many international 

award-winning documentaries in the country, including her recent film, Our Mother, 

Grandmother, Prime Minister: SIRIMAVO (2023), which won best documentary film in the 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

272 

women’s category at the 21st Dhaka International Film Festival. By joining an interview in 2011, 

Anomaa said, 

“Having participated in the festival where the documentary reached the finals Anoma’s 

horizon was widened and this encouraged her to take up a career as a documentary 

filmmaker. Having long suffered, firstly in the infancy of my career and then as a 

woman in an industry dominated by men, Anomaa realised that documentary films 

would give her more independence to express herself which made the turning point in 

her life…I was glad that there was no political interference or censorship for 

documentaries and there was also a market outside” (Rajakaruna 2011). 

Even though she has been making documentaries since 1983, she never released any of her 

films in theatres by following the formal film release method. She often used television to release 

her documentaries, and social media as alternative ways of finding local audiences. As she never 

screened her documentary films in theatres, her name is not included in any local records as a 

filmmaker.    

Further, there are no feature-length animation films made by female filmmakers in Sri 

Lankan cinema history. However, that can be identified as an issue due to a lack of technological, 

financial, and personnel infrastructure, which is more a regional issue of South Asia than of the 

Sri Lankan industry (Lent 2009). 

Regardless of all those above-mentioned industrial, social and political issues, there are 

many award-winning short filmmakers in Sri Lanka now because digital media technology is 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
273 

accessible and affordable for them to produce films with relatively lower budgets compared to 

feature-length films (Nimalachandra 2008). This affordability factor also made it easier for female 

filmmakers, who may face additional financial challenges or barriers, to bring their creative ideas 

to life and gain exposure (Nimalachandra 2008). Moreover, short films are a valuable medium for 

experimenting with storytelling techniques, showcasing directorial skills, and demonstrating 

creative vision in a concise format (Rea and Irving 2015). Yet, since there are very few venues for 

short filmmakers to locally distribute their short films, online releases through VOD, social media, 

and film festivals are popular distribution methods among them. 

However, there had been a procedure to screen short films parallel to feature films in the 

local theatres in the early years (Galappathti 2018: 12), and that was considered to display the 

potential of future feature filmmakers, hence, a good opportunity to draw the attraction of 

producers. That is not in practice anymore and there is no formal recognition of the short 

filmmakers.  

The exclusion of short filmmakers from records results in limited opportunities for 

emerging filmmakers to highlight their work and gain exposure, which in turn hinders the growth 

and development of the Sri Lankan film industry as a whole. However, in contrast to the 

continuous decrease of local opportunities for those emerging female filmmakers, the transnational 

industry practices of mass-scale industries such as the USA, UK, and Europe seem to be opening 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

274 

new venues to grow, bypassing the local cinema industry challenges. In addition to their concern 

for profit, global producers often look for promising talent and fresh voices in the industry (Film 

Producers 2023), short films become an effective way for filmmakers to make their mark and gain 

recognition, which serves as a calling card for future projects. In recent years, Sri Lankan female 

filmmakers participated various film festivals and industry events and gained industry support 

from international professionals, increasing their chances of finding support for their future 

projects. 

For instance, filmmaker Bhavanitha Loganathan made several short films, including her 

award-winning debut short film, By the Sea (2017), and most of her films were screened in 

international film festivals. She eventually started to release her short stories, such as Red Balloon, 

Ghost Doctor, and several Island Story chapters, as motion graphic novels on YouTube (Big Eyes 

2021). She had opportunities to participate in one of the major development programs and 

networking platforms for independent filmmakers at the Berlin International Film Festival in 

Germany, Berlinale Talents 2020 (Berlinale Talents 2023). She is selected for a development 

program at the Busan Asian Film School in Korea for her work as an emerging producer (Busan 

Asian Film School 2023). Lanka Bandaranayake has been making short films since her award-

winning debut short film, Tradition (2016). She received international opportunities, such as a 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
275 

development fellowship at Global Media Makers—Film Independent in the USA in 2022, for her 

debut feature film, The Hail (The Leader 2022). In addition to them, there is a long list of award-

winning female filmmakers over the last few years and among them below filmmakers and films 

gained much local and international recognition: The Image (2016) by Chathumi Vidhushika, 

Hope (2017) by Fathima Zanas, Let Her Fly… (2015) by Fathima Nafla, The Extinction Has Begun 

(2017) by Nipunika Fernando, Pottu (2021) by Navayuga Kugarajah, and animation films and 

filmmakers such as The Girl in the Rainwater Tree (2023) by Yoshitha Perera and Animate Her 

(2022) series by Irushi Tennekoon.  

Same as them, female filmmaker, Sumudu Malalagama has been working as a short filmmaker for 

some years and was awarded the second annual grant from the Torino Film Lab at the Open Door 

event at the 2018 Locarno film festival in Switzerland for her feature film project, Heli The 

Daughter (Fernando 2021 and The Sunday Times 2018). She, as a young creative producer, shared 

her standpoint on contemporary filmmakers looking for international opportunities, as she said, 

“…At the same time, you can create content for the whole world. So, I really believe 

getting international exposure for your film or for yourself is something some 

filmmakers need. Or that recognition is what they are looking for…So again it is a 

personal choice. Getting international exposure for your film or not. But as a country 

or as an industry I believe getting international exposure for the projects adds value. It 

creates a reputation for the country. Your country’s name will be on the top of the list 

if your film won an award. And this will lead the next generations to have more 

opportunities” (Malalagama 2021). 



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

276 

Most importantly, some of these young female filmmakers have been showing their 

potential to improve women’s participation in Sri Lankan cinema within their capacity, further, in 

the wider context, building future women’s society in Sri Lanka. For instance, Sumudu started a 

film development program called, The Movement Lab; a space created for encouraging young 

filmmakers to tell their stories through the cinema medium (Malalagama 2021). She shared her 

vision of what has been done, along with her colleagues, to develop the future cinema industry as 

below, 

“…As a team, we always wanted to create a platform for the next generation. Being 

young ourselves it is not natural trying to create a platform for the next generation. But 

that is what we did. We wanted the next generation to move ahead of us, make short 

films and reach out to the entire world. We wanted them to know that there are these 

kinds of platforms in the international arena. At the same time, it was created so the 

youth in Sri Lanka can be part of the country. They can create their stories and be a 

voice. All the films are related to different themes of reconciliation and co-existence. 

Their voice matters and their story matters” (Malalagama 2021).     

Sumudu also has been conducting various training workshops for young female filmmakers 

all over the country which reflects her genuine interest in developing future woman’s society 

through the medium she is into filmmaking. The journalist, Gayanga Dissanayaka shared her 

thoughts on one of the workshops which were conducted by Sumudu and its impact on the 

participating women as follows, 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
277 

“It is important to train women in filmmaking. No doubt that the art of making films 

empowers women…During both training sessions, the young girls learned how to 

produce short films to address issues such as economic inequality, GBV, climate 

injustice, digital misogyny, a lack of gender-responsive, political and civic 

participation” (Disanayaka 2022) 

Her involvement is very important in the means of future development of the Sri Lankan 

cinema industry, especially because she is filling the long-driven wider local cinema industry gaps 

such as the absence of mentorship and networking opportunities, exclusive industry practices, no 

support for female-led projects and collaborating with industry stakeholders.  

In addition to such involvement in evolving future generations, the existence of all these 

contemporary female filmmakers sheds light on the future development of the Sri Lanka cinema 

industry because most of them show the potential to grow as future filmmakers in the future. Also, 

it can predict that their films will drastically change the dominant monotonous local narratives and 

offer fresh perspectives on various issues, which is important in the means of attracting 

contemporary audiences back to the local cinema.  

This study concludes the importance of the contemporary Sri Lankan industry’s need for 

female leadership and works towards creating an inclusive and supportive environment that allows 

women to thrive in the local cinema. These include the form of supportive networks and platforms 

that bring together female filmmakers, aspiring talents, and industry professionals. These spaces 

can provide opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, and knowledge sharing, fostering a sense 

of community and support. That includes, 

• Provide training and skill development specifically tailored to female filmmakers which 

focused on building technical skills, enhancing storytelling abilities, and developing 

leadership and management capabilities.  



 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

278 

• Ensure equitable access to funding and production resources for female filmmakers. 

Establish grants, funds, and schemes that specifically target and support women in the 

industry. Encourage production houses, investors, and government agencies to allocate 

resources to projects helmed by female filmmakers.  

• Encourage collaborations between established filmmakers and emerging female talents. 

Promote partnerships between production companies, film schools, and organizations 

working towards gender equality in cinema. Such collaborations can provide opportunities 

for exposure, learning, and the sharing of resources and expertise. 

• Recognize and address the systemic biases and barriers that hinder female participation in 

the industry. Encourage fair hiring practices, equal pay, and opportunities for career 

advancement. Create policies and initiatives that ensure a safe and inclusive working 

environment, free from discrimination and harassment. 

• Promote the visibility and recognition of female filmmakers through film festivals, 

screenings, and awards. Encourage programmers and curators to include a diverse range of 

films by women in their lineups. Celebrate and amplify the achievements of female 

filmmakers to inspire others and create role models. 

• Incorporate film education and media literacy programs that highlight gender equality, 

diversity, and the importance of representation. By nurturing an understanding and 

appreciation of diverse perspectives from a young age, it can help shape a more inclusive 

and equitable future for the industry. 

It is important to note that these steps should be taken in collaboration with the film 

industry, government bodies, educational institutions, and relevant stakeholders to ensure 

comprehensive and sustainable change. By addressing the systemic challenges and promoting 

equal opportunities, it is possible to create an environment where female participation in Sri 

Lankan cinema can flourish. 

It also emphasizes the need of breaking down the hegemonic patriarchal barriers of wider 

Sri Lankan society to foster opportunities that can enable more female leaders to emerge and 



 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
279 

contribute their unique voices and perspectives to the world of filmmaking. Especially since the 

lack of representation of females in Sri Lankan cinema throughout all these years in history 

emphasizes the need for more diversity in the Sri Lankan film industry. Further, it should be 

underlined that the discourse of representation in the Sri Lankan cinema industry should not only 

be limited in terms of gender but also of race and ethnicity to encourage more diverse perspectives 

in storytelling and to ensure a wider range of stories are told in the Sri Lankan cinema. 

 

REFERENCES: 

Abeysekera, S. (1989). Women in Sri Lankan Cinema. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and 

Media, 37: 49–58. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44111678. 

Asia Pacific Screen Awards. (2023). Hon Dr Malani Fonseka - Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 

Available from: https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/apsa-academy-members/hon-

dr-malani-fonseka [Accessed 17 May 2023]. 

Big Eyes. (2021). Treasure Land - Motion Graphic Novel | Bavaneedha Loganathan. YouTube 

[online]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-

gG_wuuJA&list=PLKV4t8NmTxlguvPwkP5IggMo7pyeeDNNW [Accessed 17 May 

2023]. 

Berlinale Talents. (2023). Bavaneedha Loganathan [online]. Berlinale Talents. Available from: 

https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt//bt/talent/bavaneedha-loganathan/profile  [Accessed 4 

June 2023]. 

Busan Asian Film School. (2023). Busan Asian Film School [online]. Available from: 

http://afis.ac/eng/main/IndexView.do [Accessed 17 May 2023]. 

Buthgumwa., M. 2022. Sri Lanka is now a video-first internet market. The Morning [online] 

Available from: https://themorning.lk//articles/147584 [Accessed 17 May 2023]. 

Ceylon Business Reporter. (2015). In Remembrance of Mrs Soma Edirisinghe. CBR. Available 

from: https://cbr.lk/uncategorized/remembrance-mrs-soma-edirisinghe/ [Accessed 4 June 

2023]. 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/44111678
https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/apsa-academy-members/hon-dr-malani-fonseka
https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/apsa-academy-members/hon-dr-malani-fonseka
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-gG_wuuJA&list=PLKV4t8NmTxlguvPwkP5IggMo7pyeeDNNW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-gG_wuuJA&list=PLKV4t8NmTxlguvPwkP5IggMo7pyeeDNNW
https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/bt/talent/bavaneedha-loganathan/profile
https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/bt/talent/bavaneedha-loganathan/profile
http://afis.ac/eng/main/IndexView.do
http://afis.ac/eng/main/IndexView.do
https://themorning.lk/articles/147584
https://cbr.lk/uncategorized/remembrance-mrs-soma-edirisinghe/


 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

280 

Constable., H. (2019). Why aren’t there more women film directors?. BBC. [online] Available 

from: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191129-why-arent-there-more-women-film-

directors [Accessed 31 May 2023]. 

Colombo Gazette. (2018). Hollywood actress Ashley Judd to visit Sri Lanka. Available from:  

https://colombogazette.com/2018/01/12/hollywood-actress-ashley-judd-to-visit-sri-lanka/ 

[Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Daily News. (2015). Death of Soma Edirisinghe. Available from: 

https://www.dailynews.lk/2015/11/05/local/death-soma-edirisinghe [Accessed 4 June 

2023]. 

Devana. (2022). The Limits of #MeToo in Sri Lanka. The Diplomat. Available from: 

https://thediplomat.com/2022/02/the-limits-of-metoo-in-sri-lanka/ [Accessed 4 June 

2023]. 

Disanayaka, G. (2022). Female Filmmakers to Combat Gender Based Violence & Promote 

Women’s Rights - Colombo Telegraph. Colombo Telegraph. Available from: 

https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/female-filmmakers-to-combat-gender-

based-violence-promote-womens-rights/ [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Dockterman, E. (2015). Here’s Why It’s So Important to Hire More Female Directors. Time. 

Available from: https://time.com/4087813/female-directors-study/ [Accessed 4 June 

2023]. 

Dodangoda, N. and Hettiarachchi, S. (2019). Factors Influencing Attraction of Audience for Latest 

Local Movies: A Study on Filmmaking Industry In Sri Lanka. Edhat International, p.52 

Editor, L.S. (2021). Sri Lankan Cinema in extinction! Now only 32 halls for the whole country. 

Lanka Sara. [online] Available from: https://lankasara.com/life/arts/sri-lankan-cinema-in-

extinction-now-only-32-halls-for-the-whole-country/ [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Fernando, S. (2023). Najini Dikkovita - නජිනි දික්ඕවිට - Sinhala Cinema Database. Films.lk. 

[online] Available from: https://www.films.lk/sinhala-cinema-artist-najini-dikkovita-

8788.html [Accessed 17 May 2023]. 

Fernando, S. (2021). ‘Open Doors’ opens maiden Regional Forum. The Sunday Times. [online] 

Available from: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/210509/magazine/open-doors-opens-maiden-

regional-forum-442340.html [Accessed 17 May 2023]. 

Films.lk. (2023). Soma Edirisinghe. Sinhala Cinema Database.  Available from: 

https://www.films.lk/ArtistDetails.php?id=776 [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191129-why-arent-there-more-women-film-directors
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191129-why-arent-there-more-women-film-directors
https://colombogazette.com/2018/01/12/hollywood-actress-ashley-judd-to-visit-sri-lanka/
https://www.dailynews.lk/2015/11/05/local/death-soma-edirisinghe
https://thediplomat.com/2022/02/the-limits-of-metoo-in-sri-lanka/
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/female-filmmakers-to-combat-gender-based-violence-promote-womens-rights/
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/female-filmmakers-to-combat-gender-based-violence-promote-womens-rights/
https://time.com/4087813/female-directors-study/
https://lankasara.com/life/arts/sri-lankan-cinema-in-extinction-now-only-32-halls-for-the-whole-country/
https://lankasara.com/life/arts/sri-lankan-cinema-in-extinction-now-only-32-halls-for-the-whole-country/
https://www.films.lk/ArtistDetails.php?id=776
https://www.films.lk/ArtistDetails.php?id=776


 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
281 

Films.lk. (2023). Soniya Disanayaka - ස ෝනියා දි ා Sinhala Cinema Database. [online] Available 

from: https://films.lk/sinhala-cinema-artist-soniya-disanayaka-564.html?id=564 

[Accessed 30 May 2023]. 

Film Producers. (2023). ProductionHUB.com. Available from: 

https://www.productionhub.com/directory/profiles/film-producers [Accessed 4 June 

2023]. 

Fulford, L. and Hamilton, R.S. (2023). Canon Europe [online]. Canon Europe. Available from: 

https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/stories/women-in-filmmaking-debate/ [Accessed 31 

May 2023]. 

Fernando, S. (2018). The battle continues over film distribution. The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. 

[online] Available from: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180708/magazine/the-battle-

continues-over-film-distribution-301162.html [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Galappathti, A. (2018). The query Sri Lanka movie catalogue. Sri Lanka: National Film 

Corporation. pp. 31 

Gavazzi, G and Staff, M. (2022). Male Gaze and Female Objectification in Contemporary 

Cinema (Jacopo , Ed.). The Matthew - John Cabot University Rome Italy. Available 

from:  https://thematthewrome.com/2022/03/15/male-gaze-and-female-objectification-

in-contemporary-cinema/ [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Jayawardana, R. (2009). A golden mission for healing hearts. Daily News. Available from:  

http://archives.dailynews.lk/2009/10/29/fea20.asp [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Jayawardana, R. (2011). Beyond convention. Daily News. Available from: 

http://archives.dailynews.lk/2011/11/21/fea20.asp [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Kumarasinghe, G. (2005). Feminine beauty underexposed in Sinhala films - Geetha. Daily News. 

Edirisinghe,. E,. M,. G. Available from: 

http://archives.dailynews.lk/2005/02/16/artscop01.html [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Layne., R. (2021). Has #MeToo Changed How Hollywood Hires? Harvard Business School. 

Available from: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/has-metoo-changed-how-hollywood-hires 

[Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Lent, J. A. (2009). Animation in South Asia. Studies in South Asian Film & Media, 1(1), 101-117. 

https://doi.org/10.1386/safm.1.1.101_1. 

Loku Duwa. 1996. DVD. Sri Lanka. 

Lowe, D. (2014). An encyclopaedic dictionary of women in early American films: 1895-1930. 

Routledge. 

https://www.productionhub.com/directory/profiles/film-producers
https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/stories/women-in-filmmaking-debate/
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180708/magazine/the-battle-continues-over-film-distribution-301162.html
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180708/magazine/the-battle-continues-over-film-distribution-301162.html
https://thematthewrome.com/2022/03/15/male-gaze-and-female-objectification-in-contemporary-cinema/
https://thematthewrome.com/2022/03/15/male-gaze-and-female-objectification-in-contemporary-cinema/
http://archives.dailynews.lk/2009/10/29/fea20.asp
http://archives.dailynews.lk/2011/11/21/fea20.asp
http://archives.dailynews.lk/2005/02/16/artscop01.html
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/has-metoo-changed-how-hollywood-hires
https://doi.org/10.1386/safm.1.1.101_1


 

 

CINEJ Cinema Journal: Lanka Bandaranayake 

 
Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600   |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 

282 

Malalagama, S. (2021). Daily Mirror. Most people think filming is not an actual job - Hard talk. 

Available from: https://www.dailymirror.lk/hard-talk/Most-people-think-filming-is-not-

an-actual-job/334-213294 [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Nimalachandra, K.M.D. Chathurika, (2008). Trends of Sri Lankan new filmmakers in cinema, 

Proceedings of the Annual Research Symposium 2008, Faculty of Graduate Studies, 

University of Kelaniya, pp 69. 

Padmasiri, A. (2017). මම උදව් කළ අය මට උදව් කරන්සන් නෑ. Dinamina. [online] Available 

from:https://www.dinamina.lk/2017/06/06/%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%92%E0%B7%81%

E0%B7%9A%E0%B7%82%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%82%E0%B6%9C/35248 [Accessed 

30 May 2023]. 

Priyashantha, K. G., De Alwis, A. C., & Welmilla, I. (2023). Three perspectives on changing 

gender stereotypes. FIIB Business Review, 12(2), 120-131. 

https://doi.org/10.1177/2319714521104960. 

Riley, S., Evans, A., & Mackiewicz, A. (2016). It’s just between girls: Negotiating the postfeminist 

gaze in women’s ‘looking talk’. Feminism & Psychology, 26(1), 94-113. 

https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353515626182. 

Rea, P.W. and Irving, D. K. (2015). Producing and directing the short film and video. CRC Press. 

Robinson, A. (2018). Working Notes: An overview of contemporary Sri Lankan cinema: A 

photographic essay. South Asian Cinemas, pp.115-131. 

Selinger, A. (2004). Portraying Women as Beauvoir’s “Other”. American University. Available 

from: 

https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/auislandora%3A10028/datastream/PDF/view#:

~:text=Simone%20de%20Beauvoir%2C%20the%20influential,are%20the%20self%20an

d%20subject [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Senevirathne, S. S. A. (2017). The paradigm shift of Sri Lankan cinema: A study of reflections 

and repercussions in the cinema after introducing the open economy in 1977. In Bangkok 

Annual Business and Social Science Research Conference 2016. 

Sunday Observer. (2001). Online edition of Sunday Observer - Business. Available from: 

https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2002/09/29/mag06.html [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Sunday Observer. (2003). Inoka Sathyanganie: Bucking convention in life and art. Sunday 

Observer. https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2003/08/17/fea15.html [Accessed 17 May 

2023]. 

Peries, S. 2006.  Sumithra in the making of another cinematic gem. (n.d.). Available from: 

https://www.sundaytimes.lk/061217/TV/006_17_12_2006.html [Accessed 6 Jun 2023]. 

https://www.dailymirror.lk/hard-talk/Most-people-think-filming-is-not-an-actual-job/334-213294
https://www.dailymirror.lk/hard-talk/Most-people-think-filming-is-not-an-actual-job/334-213294
https://doi.org/10.1177/23197145211049604
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353515626182
https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/auislandora%3A10028/datastream/PDF/view#:~:text=Simone%20de%20Beauvoir%2C%20the%20influential,are%20the%20self%20and%20subject
https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/auislandora%3A10028/datastream/PDF/view#:~:text=Simone%20de%20Beauvoir%2C%20the%20influential,are%20the%20self%20and%20subject
https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/auislandora%3A10028/datastream/PDF/view#:~:text=Simone%20de%20Beauvoir%2C%20the%20influential,are%20the%20self%20and%20subject
https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2002/09/29/mag06.html
https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2003/08/17/fea15.html
https://www.sundaytimes.lk/061217/TV/006_17_12_2006.html


 

  CINEJ Cinema Journal: Woman’s Cinema on the Sri Lankan Silver Screen and the "Other" Female Filmmakers 

Volume 12.1 (2024)   |   ISSN 2158-8724 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/cinej.2024.600 |  http://cinej.pitt.edu 
283 

The Morning. (2021). Has the time come for #MeToo to transform Sri Lanka? The Morning. 

Available from: https://themorning.lk//articles/147142 [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

The Morning. (2023). Remembering Sri Lanka’s first female filmmaker Sumitra Peries. The 

Morning.: https://themorning.lk//articles/77b18S9KUnH8OOBwbHHg. 

Tampoe-Hautin, V. (2011). Sumitra Peries: Sri Lankan filmmaker: poetess of Sinhala cinema. 

Aitken Spence Print, 2011, 9789555117722. ⟨hal-01148022⟩ 

The Leader. (2022). Sri Lankan director gets opportunity in Hollywood. The Leader [online] 

Available from: https://english.theleader.lk/entertainment/2560-sri-lankan-director-gets-

opportunity-in-hollywood [Accessed 17 May 2023]. 

The Sunday Times. (2018). Locarno’s ‘Open Doors Hub’ explores new South Asian talents. The 

Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Available from: 

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180812/magazine/locarnos-open-doors-hub-explores-new-

south-asian-talents-305870.html [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Uvais, R. (2020). I don’t need positions to serve my cinema industry: Malini. Daily Mirror. 

Available from:  https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/life/I-don’t-need-positions-to-serve--

my-cinema-industry:-Malini/243-189626 [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Welabada, L. (2004). Sarasaviya Awards: And the verdict is... Sunday Observer [online] Available 

from: https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2004/08/29/fea16.html [Accessed 17 May 2023]. 

Weerasinghe, A. (1989). Anoja Weerasinghe: The Star and the Actress: An Interview. Framework: 

The Journal of Cinema and Media, (37), 93-102. Available from: 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/44111682 [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

Weerasooriya, S. (2022). SLT-MOBITEL Partners Evoplay; Sri Lanka’s newest digital 

advertising platform – The Island. Available from: http://island.lk/slt-mobitel-partners-

evoplay-sri-lankas-newest-digital-advertising-platform/ [Accessed 4 June 2023]. 

 

ENDNOTES: 

 

1 The Sinhalese film made in 1925, Rajakiya Wikramaya Nohoth Kantha is considered the first Sri Lankan film in the book, The Query of Sri 

Lanka movie Catalogue (Galappaththi 2018, pp.31). That is one of two films made during the silent cinema era, however, it didn’t screen in Sri 

Lankan theatres. The Cine Dictionary published in 2020 identifies only the first Sri Lankan talking picture, Kadawunu Poronduwa (1947) (The 

Broken Promise), as the first Sri Lankan film (The Cine Directory 2020). Both are published by National Film Corporation Sri Lanka. This paper 

identifies Rajakiya Wikramaya Nohoth Kantha (1925) as the first film of Sri Lankan cinema. 

 

https://themorning.lk/articles/147142
https://themorning.lk/articles/77b18S9KUnH8OOBwbHHg
https://english.theleader.lk/entertainment/2560-sri-lankan-director-gets-opportunity-in-hollywood
https://english.theleader.lk/entertainment/2560-sri-lankan-director-gets-opportunity-in-hollywood
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180812/magazine/locarnos-open-doors-hub-explores-new-south-asian-talents-305870.html
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180812/magazine/locarnos-open-doors-hub-explores-new-south-asian-talents-305870.html
https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/life/I-don’t-need-positions-to-serve--my-cinema-industry:-Malini/243-189626
https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/life/I-don’t-need-positions-to-serve--my-cinema-industry:-Malini/243-189626
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44111682
http://island.lk/slt-mobitel-partners-evoplay-sri-lankas-newest-digital-advertising-platform/
http://island.lk/slt-mobitel-partners-evoplay-sri-lankas-newest-digital-advertising-platform/