The 78th Cannes Film Festival, which concluded yesterday, was a milestone in Sri Lankan cinema, as it was selected to World Premiere the film ‘Gehenu Lamai’ (The Girls, 1978), directed by the late Sumithra Pieris and produced by the late Sir Lester James Pieris under Cannes Classics.
The film was restored under the auspices of FISCH (France-India-Sri Lanka Cine Heritage) – Saving Film Across Borders, a pioneering international collaboration between the Film Heritage Foundation, the Embassy of France, the French Institute in India, and the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, dedicated to restoring and preserving cinematic heritage.
‘Gehenu Lamai’ is the first Sri Lankan film to be restored under the FISCH project and to premiere at the Cannes Classics.
After many years, the Sri Lankan film team was on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet on the day of its premiere last week, led by Director of the Film Heritage Foundation Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. The team included lead actress Wasanthi Chaturani, lead actor Ajith Jinadasa, Sudath Mahaadivulwewa, Chairman of the National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka, Gayathri Mustachi representing the Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation, Mathieu Bejot from the French Institute in India, and Dammith Fonseka, actor, director, and Head of the Gamini Fonseka Foundation.
Gehanu Lamai
As the first female filmmaker in Sri Lanka and also referred to as the Poetess of Sri Lankan cinema, Sumitra Peiris entered the realm of cinema with her debut feature film ‘Gehenu Lamai,’ which was acclaimed as the Outstanding Film of the Year at the London Film Festival in 1978. She held a Diploma in Film Direction and Production from the London School of Film Technique.
As the wife of Sir Lester James Pieris, the father of Sri Lankan cinema, Sumitra directed and produced eight more cinematic gems for Sri Lankan cinema, starting with Gehenu Lamai (1978), Ganga Addara (1980), Yahalu Yeheli (1982), Maya (1984), Sagarajalaya Madihaduwa Obahanda (1988), Loku Duwa (1986), Duwata Mawaka Misa (1997), Sakman Maluwa (2003), and Vaishnavee (2018).
Restoring the film
The idea to restore “Gehenu Lamai” started in 2018 when Director of the Film Heritage Foundation Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and others from FIAF visited Colombo to check on film storage. They found about 30,000 old film reels in very poor condition, stored in bad places. Over five days, they carefully sorted the films, separating those beyond repair from the ones that could be saved. They also gave advice on preserving and digitising the films.
Shivendra met Lester James Peries and his wife Sumitra in Colombo.
Sumitra showed him some of her films on DVDs, including her debut film “Gehenu Lamai,” and mentioned she wanted it restored.
Six years later, thanks to a special grant from the FISCH project (France-India-Sri Lanka Cine Heritage), funding was available for restoration. The National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka still had some original film parts of “Gehenu Lamai.” These were sent to a top film restoration lab in Bologna, Italy.
The lab found the reels were in poor condition, with tears, cracks, warping, and damage. They spent many hours fixing the damaged parts and preparing the film for digital scanning in 4K resolution.
The lab used a good quality copy of the film as a guide for the restoration. Even though the original negative was better in some ways, it had subtitles embedded, so they mainly used the copy with clearer images for the restoration.
Restoring the sound was difficult because it was poor and full of noise, clicks, and gaps. Despite the challenges, they worked hard to faithfully recover the film and improve the sound quality.
The film was restored using the best surviving elements, that is the 35 mm combined dupe negative and two 35 mm release prints preserved at the National Film Corporation.
“I had a very close relationship with Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries. I still remember the day Sumitra Peries gave me a DVD of ‘Gehenu Lamai’ with her hand written notes. I watched the film and I could see why she was called the Poetess of Sri Lankan cinema. I was so moved by the poetic imagery of the film and the assured delicacy with which she handled the fragile emotions of the young actors. It was hard to believe that it was her debut film.
What concerned me at the time was the condition of the film elements and I hoped that we would be able to restore the film before it was too late. I was delighted when the Embassy in India, the French Institute in India and the French Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, that enabled me to choose this film to be restored under the grant. The restoration was incredibly difficult and we had to work with three different elements of the film to bring Gehenu Lamai back to its original glory. I only wish that Sumitra Peries was there with us to see the film.”
– Shivendra Singh Dungarpur – Filmmaker, Archivist and director, Film Heritage Foundation
I am overwhelmed that ‘Gehenu Lamai’ has been restored by the Film Heritage Foundation and will be premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, 47 years after it was released. I was just 16 and studying in a convent school when Sumitra Peries selected me for the role of Kusum. Initially, I was very nervous and almost gave up, but she was so patient and she taught me to the nuances of acting and how to face the camera. The character of Kusum will stay etched in my mind forever. The film was a life-changing experience for me. I cannot think of a better tribute to pay to Sumitra Peries, one of the greatest filmmakers from Sri Lanka.
I only wish she could have been in Cannes to see her film come back to life on such an amazing platform.
The Film Heritage Foundation should be commended for their commitment over the years in building a movement for film preservation in Sri Lanka and for putting Sri Lanka’s film heritage on the world map. – Wasanthi Chathurani – Main Actress (Gehenu Lamai)
– Courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation)
