Preserving knowledge and National Heritage in artistic form

SISIRA SURAWEERA A PIONEER DOCUMENTARY FILM MAKER CUM RESEARCHER

U p - c l o s e a n d p e r s o n al b y R a n g a C h a n d r a r a t h n e

A documentary film being an art of its own kind is not only educative but also immensely creative in terms of preserving, disseminating and recording events, phenomena and a certain form of practice for the posterity. According to Sisira Suraweera, a researcher cum documentary film maker who has amassed invaluable experience and hand-on knowledge in the field, though Sri Lanka has not hitherto recognised, documentary filming is an area that the country can not only excel in but also compete with rivals even at international level. Given the financial and technical constrains, Sri Lanka cannot compete successfully at international level in the area of Teledrama. However, the tradition and the style of documentary filming in Sri Lanka which was commenced by the pioneer documentary film makers themselves such as John Grierson, Basil Wrights, and Ralph Keen, has flourished at the hands of a successive generation of Sri Lankan documentary filmmakers who were directly influenced by pioneering documentary filmmakers and their monumental works. Pragnasoma Hettiarachchi, Dr. Lester James Peiris, Gorge Wickremesinghe, Irvin Dassanayaka, Dr. D. B. Nihalsinghe and Tissa Liyanasuriya are among the next generation of Sri Lankan documentary filmmakers. Suraweera is of the opinion that the history of documentary film making in Sri Lanka goes as far back as 1903 where there was evidence of the screening of Silent movies including documentaries. During the World War I, documentaries were brought down to Sri Lanka principally to entertain the foreign soldiers and officers stationed in Sri Lanka.

Rajakeeya Wickramaya which is considered to be the first Sinhala film, was produced around 1925. Even this was produced in India. In retrospect Sisira Suraweera considers the birth of the first Sri Lankan documentary film in Basil Right's Song of Ceylon in 1934. The publication of Observer in the same year, the official commencement of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) in 1925 and the production of the first Sri Lankan Rajakeeya Wickramaya (according to one scholar of thinking) are watersheds in the contemporary history of mass communication in Sri Lanka. Song of Ceylon which Basil Rights produced for the Sri Lanka Tea Board as a propaganda film, is considered as one of the finest documentaries in the world in terms of its classical and lasting value. Arthur Nights describes it as a documentary with a poetic style and a lasting work. However, Song of Ceylon was produced in Britain. Sisira Suraweera attributes not producing a documentary in TV to the documentary being not so popular a medium and as it also does not incur much profit. Another reason for the slow death of documentary films is that a lot of research is needed to produce a documentary. Sisira believes that documentary films are an excellent medium to mark Sri Lanka on the world map and to propagate Sri Lankan culture and heritage. According to John Grierson The documentary film itself has been defined as a film which is a creative interpretation of reality. Sisira laments on the present awful state of documentary cinema in Sri Lanka which is largely attributed to the misunderstanding of the medium. Some producers make documentaries with a lot of interviews and few visuals and also use actors and actresses in documentaries. According to Sisira Suraweera, this practice goes against the very fundamentals of documentary as it's is not the reality which is portrayed in the film. The attention of the film is drawn to the actors and actresses and not to the subject of the film. Sisira considers them as documentaries far from being realistic.

Sisira's forte in documentary film is culture and diverse facets of it. For instance, Sisira's documents on the Vedda (Sri Lankan aborigines) community are both insightful and informative. He also produced a large number of documentaries on rituals and traditions. At present, Sisira is working on a documentary on Kem, a method of simple technology that has been handed down from generation to generation often by word of mouth. It has now been identified that there is a simple scientific method behind the traditional practice of Kem. For instance, there is a practice among farmers to beat on to a copper plate with a stick and carry it around the paddyfield to drive away insects. The copper plate generates waves that are harmful to the insects and when the farmer produces them, animals run off the field. Hitler used harmful waves to kill people. Scattering milk rice (Kiribath) in the field at dawn is another kem that farmers practise to destroy the worms in the field. The birds that came to the field would perch on a planted thorny branch of the tree in the field or an unturned coconut husk attached to a stick which is also planted in the field. The birds not only eat milk rice but also the worms in the field. Lighting oil lamps in a paddyfield is another kem. When a lamp is lit the insects are attracted to the light and get destroyed by burning themselves in the flame. This is also an effective method of destroying insects. Almost all the traditional practices of Kem are associated with religion. Sisira is of the view that by popularizing these traditional practices, the use of pesticides and weedicides can be reduced. Sisira Suraweera has so far produced 48 documentary programmes and 384 Television programmes. In 1983, he was granted a Special Award for the best TV documentary programme for Kaludiyamanthi (Black Diamond) by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union New Zealand. It is the first TV award won by Sri Lanka. He won 5 National Awards and 5 International awards. Isle of Serendipity, his documentary won two international awards from USA and Germany. Sisira`s production, Dendro Power is a documentary produced on generating electricity by Dendro Power which is now being screened at Ekotop Film festival in Slovia. Sisira maintains that meticulous research should be carried out on the subject prior to the production of a documentary. Among the methods that he uses in

gathering information are absorbing relevant information from books, field study which Sisira believes as an excellent source of authentic information since a corpus of indigenous knowledge exists among communities that are hitherto undiscovered by researchers. He also uses the internet and archives as tools of gathering information. Since the inception of the Government's Film Unit in 1948, the major task entrusted with it was producing documentary films and the news real. However, at present, Government's Film Unit (GFU) has not been producing documentary films. In reflecting on the birth of the GFU, Sisira recalled how a coincidence led to the birth of Government's Film Unit. In 1948, a group of businessmen formed a commercial entity named Ranga Movietone with the intention of producing a film based on W. A. Silva's novel. The company decided to hire the service of two Italian filmmakers; Julio Petroni and Fedriko Sera. However, this turned out to be a non-starter virtually rendering the two Italian Filmmakers unemployed. They filmed the 1948 independence celebration unwittingly marking a milestone in documentary filming in Sri Lanka. The duo had shown it to the then Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake who set up the Government's Film Unit. The GFU commenced operations in 1948. According to Sisira, Rambles through Ceylon which was discovered from the American embassy is the oldest documentary produced on Sri Lanka. However, it was not a completed work. Then came Song of Ceylon. New Horizon, Hill Capital are prominent works by Petroni. The successor of this tradition was Ralph Keen who was a famous British nature film producer. Power on the land, Winter Spring, Heritage of Sri Lanka and Nelum Gama are among the documentaries Keen directed. Fishermen of Negembo was co-directed by Ralph Keen and George Wickremesinghe and depicted the beliefs and traditions of the fishermen's life. The gradual decline of the Government's Film Unit (GFU) that began in 1960-70 intensified with the establishment of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) in 1982. The threat posed by feature films adversely affected the GFU. Low cost of production and availability of technology in television contributed to this situation. The objective of documentary film in a developing country should be to focus attention on economic, social and cultural activities. The Government Film Division of India is an example of how documentary films have been

successfully used in the development process. The film Division has produced a number of documentaries covering health, education and culture under the guidance of internationally acclaimed directors such as Sathyajith Ray. Sisira attributes the present deplorable condition of the documentary film to bureaucratism and officialdom that have little or no knowledge of documentary films. Sisira is of the view that this unique form of art should be fostered not only using the medium of Television but also the film. Though the Government Film Unit and the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation has some of our masterpieces, it is doubtful whether these masterpieces will be preserved as the public trust on these institutions wanes.