The SIGNIS Awards are presented annually by

SIGNIS SIGNIS (official name: World Catholic Association for Communication) is a Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement for professionals in the communication media, including press, radio, television, cinema, video, media education, internet, and new ...

, the Roman Catholic lay movement for communication media professionals, to recognize excellence of professionals in the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, p ...

, including directors, actors, and writers. There are SIGNIS chapters in numerous countries and this article deals with the Sri Lankan chapter.

Background

SIGNIS (Sri Lanka) developed in November 2001 from the merger of national chapters of

OCIC SIGNIS (official name: World Catholic Association for Communication) is a Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement for professionals in the communication media, including press, radio, television, cinema, video, media education, internet, and ne ...

and Unda. OCIC was the international Catholic communications organisation for cinema and Unda was the international Catholic organisation for

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. Both organisations were founded in 1928 in Sri Lanka. SIGNIS Sri Lanka is one of 16 Asian units of the worldwide association of

, which general secretariat is established in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Leading directors in Sri Lanka cinema have described being inspired by the Film Review Caucus, a mini-theater organized by

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

. It arranged screenings and encouraged students to write reviews and analyze films. Director

Prasanna Vithanage Udaya Prasanna Vithanage ( si, ප්‍රසන්න විතානගේ) (born 14 March 1962) is a Sri Lankan filmmaker. He is considered one of the pioneers of the third generation of the Sri Lankan cinema. He has directed eight feature ...

commented in 2007:

"We do not have a film school in Sri Lanka even now," he pointed out, recalling how the current crop of directors got their start. "We learned everything through watching films. Many of the young directors in the industry today were groomed at the Film Review Caucus, which was started at the mini-theater by then-director Father
Ernest Poruthota Poruthotage Raymond Ernest Alexander Fernando ( Sinhala: පෝරුතොටගේ රේමන්ඩ් අර්නස්ට් ඇලෙක්සැන්ඩර් ප්‍රනාන්දු) (31 August 1931 — 16 June 2020), often know ...
. Then I followed the film course, which was a practical course," he recounted.

In March 2013, the director founded the Prasanna Vithanage Film School in Colombo.

SIGNIS Awards (Sri Lanka)

The SIGNIS Sri Lanka Awards for films and television serials are similar to the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. They recognize achievements in various categories such as directing, editing, musical scoring, camerawork and lighting. The awards ceremony, also like its Hollywood counterpart, has become a gala event that attracts film and television stars, directors, cameramen, scriptwriters, critics and journalists. The award presentations are interspersed with dance and music performances by leading artists, and clips from award-winning movies and TV programs. Aside from the industry awards, SIGNIS Sri Lanka also recognizes individual contributions to local cinema and television through its "Homage" and "Special Salutation" lifetime awards.

2012 Awards

In September 2012, the 36th SIGNIS Salutation Ceremony was held in

. Salinda Perera's ''Dheewari ("Fisherman's Daughter") -- see dheevari.com--'' obtained the major prize in the cinema section. It swept all major award categories including Best Director for Salinda Perera, and Best Screenplay by Darrell Costa and Salinda Perera, from a novel by Raja Proctor. (It dramatizes the story of Valli, a valiant fisherman's daughter, who breaks social taboos in her fight to unify and modernize a fishing village long oppressed by the mudalali bosses.) Saman Kumara Liyanage's ''Sandagiri Pawwa'' received most of the key tele-drama prizes. CIC Agri Businesses' advertisement, created to communicate its corporate values, won the award for

TV commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for "creative arts, television and cinema", for 2012. The Jury panel included Rev. Fr. Benedict Joseph (Chairman of Signis), Senior Journalist Kala Keerthi Edwin Ariyadasa, and Senior Media Spokesperson Aruna Lokuliyana.

41st SIGNIS Awards

42nd SIGNIS Awards

Signis Awards of Merit

"Jayawilal Wilegoda Award for Best Amateur Critic" #1986 - Nihal Peries #1987 - Nisitha Warnasooriya #1988 - Erik Ilayapparachchi #1989 - Premachandra Roopasinhe #1991 - Ajantha Hapuarachchi #1992 - suguth mahadooleweaaa #1993 - Thusitha Jayasundara. #1996 - Ajith Galappaththi #1997 - Charitha Dissanayake #1998 - Nuwan Nayanajith Kumar #2000 - Suranga Senanayake #2002 - Boopathy Nalin Wickramage #2003 - Indika Nishantha Udugampala #2004 - Lionel Rajapakshe

Best Picture

1970s

#*1973 - ''Ahas Gauwa'' #*1977 - ''Bambaru Awith''

1980s

#*1981 - ''Soldadu Unnahe''

2000s

#*2006 - ''Ira Mediyama'' #*2008 - ''Sankara'' and ''Aganthukaya'' #*2011 - ''Bambara Walalla'' #*2012 - ''Dheewari'' (Dheevari aka Fisherman's Daughter)

Best Director

1970s

#*1973 -

Dharmasena Pathiraja Pathiraja Navaratne Wanninayake Mudiyanselage Ranjith Dharmasena (28 March 1943 – 28 January 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director and screenwriter. He has been referred to as a 'rebel with a cause', an ‘''enfant terrible'' of the '70s', and ...

– ''Ahas Gauwa'' #*1977 -

– ''Bambaru Awith''

1980s

#*1981 -

– ''Soldadu Unnahe''

2000s

#*2006 -

– ''Ira Mediyama'' #*2005 - Boodee Keerthisena
– Mille Soya (Buongiorno Italia)

Best Cinematographer

1990s

#*1996 - Andrew Jayamanne Julietge Bhoomikawa #*1979 - Andrew Jayamanne Handaya #*1972 - Andrew Jayamanne Haralaksaya

References

{{reflist Sri Lankan film awards