NFC head Sudath selected for Pune Film jury

• Among the major cinema work by Mahaadivulwewa are ‘The Song of the Seventh Evening’ (1992), ‘Sudu Kalu saha Alu’ or ‘Shades of Ash’ (2004) and his latest film was ‘My Red Comrade’ (2024)

Award winning filmmaker and cinema educator Sudath Mahaadivulwewa has been selected to be a Jury member of the renowned Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) in India. 

Mahaadivulwewa, who is also the newly appointed chairman of the National Film Corporation (NFC), will be in the Jury of the World Competition of the 23rd PIFF, taking place from February 13 to 20. He will join the panel of the World Competition jury comprising Indian filmmaker, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Portuguese filmmaker and writer, Margarida Gil, prominent Finish filmmaker, Petri Kotwica and renowned Iranian filmmaker and screenwriter Tamineh Milani.

Sudath Mahaadivulwewa has been selected to be a Jury member of the renowned Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) in India.

“Renowned for his fearless storytelling, Sudath Mahaadivulwewa has dedicated his career to shedding light on Sri Lanka’s socio-political realities. Through films like ‘This Land Belongs to the Army’ (2003), he has championed the voices of marginalized communities, using cinema as a powerful tool for activism and awareness. PIFF 2025 is honored to have him as part of the jury!,” PIFF stated on selection of Mahaadivulwewa for the Jury. 

Having started as a journalist of ‘Lakdhiva’ a socially and politically powerful tabloid in 1990s, Mahaadivulwewa shifted to creative copywriting in the advertising field. He won the rare title as “Youngest Director in Sri Lanka”, at the age of 21 and then started his first large-scale creative venture in television through his telefilm ‘Wanaspathi’. Venturing into film and documentary direction especially on socio-political issues, in 1989 he won “the Best Film Script” and “the Best Documentary Script” awards from Sri Lanka National Youth Council Services. He has also received various other awards including the National Youth Council Services award, Sudath has been awarded the State Tele film and Documentary award, OCIC International award and Presidential awards.

Among the major cinema work by Mahaadivulwewa are “The Song of the Seventh Evening” (1992), ‘Sudu Kalu saha Alu’ or ‘Shades of Ash (2004) and his latest film was My Red Comrade (2024). 

There was a period, starting 2004 and running for nearly two decades, during which he served Sri Lankan cinema by producing a large number of young filmmakers and film artistes. This was a period when he didn’t make any films.

He was attached to the Digital Cinema Academy, which was later turned to Colombo Film School (CFS). He served as a cinema teacher at several universities, producing several generations of young filmmakers.

It was only very recently that he was appointed as the chairman of the NFC.