Lester James Peries
Father of Sri Lankan Cinema
Professional Summary
Lester James Peries (5 April 1919 - 29 April 2018) is universally revered as the Father of Sri Lankan Cinema. Born in Dehiwala and educated at St. Peter's College, Colombo, he began his creative life as a journalist with The Times of Ceylon before joining the Government Film Unit, where he absorbed the British documentary tradition under filmmaker Ralph Keene. Those years of documentary work honed the observational realism that would define his feature films.
With Rekava (1956), Peries shattered the convention of Ceylonese cinema as an imitation of South Indian studio productions, delivering the first truly Sinhala film - made in Ceylon, with a Sinhala cast and crew, rooted in village life. Gamperaliya (1963) won the Golden Peacock for Best Film at the International Film Festival of India, Nidhanaya (1972) took the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and his adaptations of Martin Wickramasinghe's novels and Leonard Woolf's Baddegama carried Sri Lankan literature onto the world screen. Across a career spanning more than six decades he directed some twenty feature films and numerous documentaries.
Married from 1964 to pioneering cinematographer Sumitra Peries, he mentored generations of Sri Lankan filmmakers and remained creative into his eighties; his final feature Wekande Walauwa (2002) became Sri Lanka's first submission to the Academy Awards. Honoured with national awards and honorary doctorates, he died in Colombo at the age of 99, mourned as the artist who gave Sri Lanka its own cinematic voice.
Artistic Philosophy
Peries believed that a nation's cinema must grow from its own soil. He rejected imported formulas and staged studio artifice, insisting instead that Sinhala film portray Sri Lankan village life, family bonds and social change with honesty, restraint and poetic realism.
For him the screen was the nation's mirror: by filming the quiet dramas of ordinary people - as in Rekava, Gamperaliya and Golu Hadawatha - he proved that small countries could produce world-class art cinema, and he devoted his life to raising local storytelling to international standards.
Experience Details
1919: Born on 5 April in Dehiwala, Ceylon, and educated at St. Peter's College, Colombo.
Late 1930s: Began his career as a journalist with The Times of Ceylon, immersing himself in literature and the arts.
1949: Joined the Government Film Unit, training under British documentary filmmaker Ralph Keene, and directed numerous acclaimed short documentaries.
1956: Directed Rekava (Line of Destiny) - the first Sinhala film made in Ceylon with an entirely Sinhala cast and crew - marking the birth of authentic national cinema.
1957: Rekava was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, bringing Sri Lankan cinema international attention for the first time.
1960: Directed Sandesaya, a sweeping historical romance that became a landmark commercial success.
1963: Directed Gamperaliya, his masterpiece adaptation of Martin Wickramasinghe's novel, which won the Golden Peacock for Best Film at the 3rd International Film Festival of India.
1964: Married Sumitra Gunawardena, who became his cinematographer and a celebrated film director in her own right.
1967-1968: Directed Ran Salu and Golu Hadawatha, the latter hailed as a landmark in its sensitive portrayal of adolescent love.
1972: Directed Nidhanaya (The Treasure), winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and frequently ranked the greatest Sri Lankan film of all time.
1978: Directed Veera Puran Appu, an epic on the hero of the 1848 Matale Rebellion.
1981: Directed Baddegama, adapted from Leonard Woolf's The Village in the Jungle.
1983-1985: Completed the Martin Wickramasinghe trilogy with Kaliyugaya and Yuganthaya.
1990: Released Awaragira, another critically acclaimed family drama.
2002: Directed Wekande Walauwa (Mansion by the Lake) at age 83 - Sri Lanka's first submission to the Academy Awards.
2018: Died on 29 April in Colombo at the age of 99, mourned nationally as the Father of Sri Lankan Cinema.