Vale Lester James Peries - Sri Lankan master

Lester James Peries (1919- 2018) worked on short films and documentaries as well as features, with subjects as eclectic as malaria, motorists, family life and (in the case of Nidhanaya) a murder suicide. He made the first Sri Lankan film to get an Oscar nomination. Winner of the Silver Lion at the 1972 Venice film festival, The Treasure is his most acclaimed work, frequently topping best Sri Lankan films of all time polls. It is screening in the CINEMA REBORN programme on Saturday 5 May at 10.00 am. The screening is sponsored by the Film Critics Circle of Australia.

Brian Baxter in The Guardian online has this fine appreciation of his work if you click here