International Film Heritage Festival in Colombo

A two-day film festival featuring restored cinematic creations from Sri Lanka, India, and France will be held at the National Film Corporation Cinema Hall in Colombo, on September 27 and 28. 
Presented by the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, in collaboration with the National Film Corporation and the Film Heritage Foundation, the festival is dedicated to celebrating restored cinematic classics from three countries and to highlighting the richness of their film heritage. It also seeks to raise awareness about the urgency of conservation, restoration and diffusion of these cultural masterpieces.
Organized within the framework of the FISCH (France India Sri Lanka Cine Heritage), the festival builds on an initiative launched by the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, the Embassy of France in India and the Film heritage Foundation in 2023 to restore Sumitra Peries ’landmark film, Gehenu Lamai, to train archivist and programmers, and to promote film heritage in Sri Lanka. The project also includes workshops on film restoration and archiving in both India and Sri Lanka, and now culminates in the public screening of six restored films from the three countries. All screenings will be presented in their original version with English subtitles, free of charge. 
The festival will open on Saturday, September 27, at 10:00 am with a masterclass by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur from the Film Heritage Foundation, followed at 1:00 pm by Manthan (Shyam Benegal, India, 1976), a landmark production funded by 500,000 farmers. At 4:00 pm, audiences will rediscover Maya Miriga (Nirad Mohapatra, India, 1984), before concluding the day at 6:30 pm with François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups, France, 1959). 
On Sunday, September 28, the programme will begin at 10:00 am with ‘Hansa Vilak’ (Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka, 1980). At 1:00 pm, audiences will enjoy the French classic Cléo de 5 à 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962). The festival will close at 4:00 pm with ‘Bambaru Avith’ (Dharmasena Pathiraja, Sri Lanka, 1978).