• Prof. Patrick Ratnayake delivered the Lester James Peries Oration 2025 on 16 July

Known as the Poetess of Sri Lankan Cinema, the late Sumitra Peries’ contributions to cinema, both local and global, cannot be overstated. ‘Gehenu Lamai’ not only marked her debut as a filmmaker but also marked the debut of Vasanthi Chathurani, one of Sri Lanka’s well-known faces.

The 1978 film is significant when talking about Peries’ work and impact as a filmmaker, but it is also a notable production in Sri Lanka’s film history. However, it is also a film that could have been lost to audiences.

Fortunately, a restoration was made possible by India’s Film Heritage Foundation in association with the Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation. ‘Gehenu Lamai’ was restored at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, with funding provided by a grant under the aegis of FISCH: France-India-Sri Lanka Cine Heritage – Saving Film Across Borders.

The restoration made it to the Cannes Film Festival this year, with some of the film’s cast and crew, along with individuals who played a role in the film’s restoration, walking the Cannes red carpet. The film will be screened at various other international film festivals as well, and will also soon come to screens in Colombo.

While recent conversations have focused on ‘Gehenu Lamai’, the Lester James Peries Oration 2025, organised by the Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation in collaboration with the Alumni Organisation University of Colombo, took a wider look at Peries’ work, focusing on Sumitra Peries’ Legacy to Sri Lankan Cinema.

The oration was delivered by Prof. Patrick Ratnayake of the University of Kelaniya and was held at the University of Colombo on 16 July. While French Ambassador Rémi Lambert was the chief guest, the event also saw a ‘Gehenu Lamai’ reunion with stars Shayama Ananda, Vasanthi Chathurani, Indrani Abewardana, and Inoka Amarasena in attendance.

Speaking at the event, Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation Chair Gayathri Mustachi shared: “We are pleased to inform you all that ‘Gehenu Lamai’ will be premiered in Colombo and the restored version will be released to the public very soon.”

Meanwhile, Lambert said: “Sumitra Peries was multifaceted. She has been described as the ‘Poetess of Sri Lankan Cinema’.” He spoke about her work as a filmmaker, as well as an Ambassador of Sri Lanka to France, saying: “She helped the French discover the rich Sri Lankan heritage.”

Lambert added: “For us, it was very natural and very important that our cooperation on the restoration of Sri Lankan heritage started with this movie, ‘Gehenu Lamai’.” He described the project as being very complex technically, but one that had an impressive result. Lambert added that they looked forward to it being screened in Sri Lanka and taken to new generations. “It’s a matter of heritage. We are supportive of this heritage, of the Sri Lankan culture. We are a nation of cinema; we have cinema at heart.”

From Boralugoda to Europe

In delivering his oration, Prof. Ratnayake began, understandably, by discussing the significance of the ‘Gehenu Lamai’ screening and red carpet walk at Cannes. He then took the audience to the early years of Sumitra Peries’ life, speaking about Peries’ family home in Boralugoda, Avissawella, and its socialist foundations.

“I won’t speak in detail about it because we will then be diverting from cinema, but her childhood was spent within this political base. It was a leftist base,” Prof. Ratnayake explained.

This was the background she grew up in, he said, pointing out that people’s personalities are shaped by their childhood experiences and upbringing. He also spoke about Peries’ robustious personality as a child. “The matriarch of the family gave Peries the freedom for this.”

The orator, who spoke in Sinhala, soon connected this upbringing to the filmmaker we know. ‘Gehenu Lamai’ is based on a book of the same name by Karunasena Jayalath. Prof. Ratnayake pointed out that Peries was drawn to such authors due to her upbringing. This applied to her husband Lester James Peries, who adapted Karunasena’s ‘Golu Hadawatha’, as well.

However, before any of these movies came to be, Sumitra Peries followed her brother to Europe, with France going on to play a crucial role in her life. Prof. Ratnayake said that in France, her brother Gamini was in touch with Lester James Peries – fate, he said. “During this time, that is in 1956, with uprisings in Sri Lankan politics, cinema, literature, and all other fields, ‘Rekava’ was made,” he said, referring to Lester James Peries’ debut film.

This film went on to be screened at Cannes, which took Lester James Peries to France. Sumitra Peries, then Gunawardena, watched ‘Rekava’ and formed an interest in its maker. Eventually, they got married.

Prof. Ratnayake’s oration went back and forth, going back to Peries’ schooling and once again discussing how her childhood and what was nurtured in the environments she grew up in influenced and emerged in her work.

Editing magic

Moving on from her childhood and youth, Prof. Ratnayake focused on a turning point in her life: Her involvement in Lester James Peries’ productions. Peries is credited as an editor in ‘Gamperaliya’ (1963), ‘Delovak Athara’ (1966), ‘Ran Salu’ (1967), ‘Golu Hadawatha’ (1969), ‘Akkara Paha’ (1970), ‘Desa Nisa’ (1975), ‘The God King’ (1976), ‘Madol Duwa’ (1976), ‘Ahasin Polawata’ (1978), and ‘Vaishnavee’ (2018). Of these, the last film was directed by Sumitra Peries, the remainder by Lester James Peries.

“Peries’ weapon was the editing table. Not directing, scenery, script, but editing,” Prof. Ratnayake said. Her use of montages in movies reflected this, with Prof. Ratnayake saying it is these editing skills that allowed young actors such as Vasanthi Chathurani to shine. In fact, Prof. Ratnayake spoke about how Peries’ was pivotal in the cinematic career Vasanthi Chathurani went on to have, having insisted she play Kusum in ‘Gehenu Lamai’ and even giving her the name Vasanthi Chathurani, penned by Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne, as opposed to using her birth name of Vasantha Doreen Peterson. “Why change it? That was Sumitra Peries,” the orator pointed out.

Emphasising Peries’ expertise in film, Prof. Ratnayake said that even today, over five decades since Sri Lanka’s first female filmmaker made her debut, the island has only a handful of female filmmakers. He explained that this is perhaps why France held ‘Gehenu Lamai’ in high regard, especially when it came to feminist cinema.

Speaking about Peries’ feminist filmmaking, Prof. Ratnayake went through her filmography, pointing out the key female characters in these works. He went into detail about Peries’ work, drawing parallels with contemporaries, whether in Asia or Europe.

This part of the oration also drew on Prof. Ratnayake’s education in Japan, with him explaining that all creations belong to one of two categories: The world as it could be and the world as it is. Peries belonged to the latter, he said.

He pointed out that the fate of the woman in Asia was different to the fate of women in Europe. However, Peries’ movies did not show women in a world that could be. It showed women in the world as it is. “Peries did not remove the woman from her fate. She left her there and instead showed it to us beautifully,” he said.

With ‘Gehenu Lamai’, for instance, the audience is left with the emotions associated with loss and separation, Nimal’s mother ensuring Kusum leaves him due to Kusum coming from a lower social class and thus not being seen as a suitable match. This is the fate of the Sri Lankan woman, Prof. Ratnayake pointed out, saying that often society drives people apart if deemed unsuitable for each other.

Prof. Ratnayake also spoke about how Peries often based her films on novels, but allowed the film to be her own work, deviating from the novel where necessary when achieving her vision.

For instance, with ‘Duwata Mawaka Misa’, Peries herself said she didn’t become a slave to the novel and that the movie was her point of view, her vision. She ended the movie where she wanted to, with Prof. Ratnayake saying that ‘Gehenu Lamai’ was no different.

The oration came to an end with scenes from ‘Gehenu Lamai’ and Prof. Ratnayake discussing how Peries framed her characters as well as the honorary Doctor of Literature ‘Sahithya Chakrawarthi’ bestowed on her by the University of Kelaniya in 2022.

He then reflected on what could have been Peries’ next work, if not for her passing in 2023.

At the Lester James Peries Oration 2025

The Lester James Peries Oration was held on 16 July at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo. Organised by the Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation in collaboration with the Alumni Organisation University of Colombo, the oration was delivered by Prof. Patrick Ratnayake of the University of Kelaniya.

This was the first oration held since the passing of Lester James Peries in 2018 and focused on Sumitra Peries’ legacy to Sri Lankan cinema.