''Sarasaviya Awards'' (Sinhala:සරසවිය සම්මාන) is an award bestowed to distinguished individuals involved with the

Sinhala cinema Sri Lankan cinema encompasses the Sri Lankan film industry. It is a fledgling industry that has struggled to find a footing since its inauguration in 1947 with ''Kadawunu Poronduwa'' produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone. Sri Lanka ...

, each year by the Sarasaviya weekly newspaper in collaboration with the

Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), also known as Lake House. It publishes three daily, three weekend, five weekly, two monthly and three annual publications in Sinhala, English and Tamil. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited i ...

(Lake House), Sri Lanka in recognition of the contributions made by them to the Sri Lankan film industry. The Sarasaviya ceremony is one of the oldest film events in Sri Lanka. The awards were first introduced in 1964. The Sarasaviya Awards have been often referred to as the Sinhala Cinema industry's equivalent to

The Oscars 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 ...

History

The Sarasaviya film awards ceremony began in 1964 at a time when the local cinema was trying to shed its

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

orientation and establish an indigenous identity. There was no need to go to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to make films any more and the era of Indian artistes too had ended. The first Sarasaviya film festival was held on May 9, 1964 at the Asoka Cinema Hall,

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 ...

, 17 years after the first

Sinhala film Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sin ...

screened. By then a series of good Sinhala films like Podi Putha, Rekhawa, Sandeshaya, Ranmuthuduwa, Kurulubedda, Sikurutharuwa and Gamperaliya had appeared on screen. Yet the mainstream consisted of simulations of Indian productions. The year 1960 is seen as the beginning of the golden era of Sinhala cinema. The first Sarasaviya Awards Festival had as entries not only the films screened in 1963 but also the films screened from 1960 to 1963. The best film, best director, best script-writer, best actor and best actress were honoured that day. Gamperaliya was regarded as the best film and it was awarded to its producer Anton Wickremasinghe. Sir Lester James Peiris and

Regi Siriwardena Kala Keerthi Regi Siriwardena (15 May 1922 – 15 December 2004) was a Sri Lankan academic, journalist, poet, writer, playwright and writer of screenplays. Early life and education Reginald Siriwardena (known as 'Reggie' until the 1980s) was ...

won the awards for best director and best script-writer, respectively and that too was for Gamperaliya. D.R. Nanayakkara was awarded the best actor title for his performance in Sikuru Tharuwa, another popular film in the 1964 film festival. The best actress award was received by Punya Heendeniya for her performance in Gamperaliya.

Suspension and 2016 resumption

The awards festival was suspended by the Rajapaksa administration and were resumed in 2016 after Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka announced that the festival will resume under the new government.

Awards at present

In 2004, there were 33 awards in total, including the 12 prominent awards. However, this varies from year to year. Following is a brief list of the Award winners from each category for each year since 1964.

Prominent awards

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

* Best Actor *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

* Best Supporting Actor * Best Supporting Actress * Best Emerging Actor * Best Emerging Actress * Best Original Score * Best Male Singer * Best Female Singer * Best Song Lyricist

Awards based on popularvote

Technical awards

* Best Production Design * Best Cinematography * Best Editing * Best Screenplay * Best Sound * Best Makeup

Lifetime awards

* Rana Thisara Awards

Special awards

* Ranapala Bodhinagoda Memorial Literary Awards * Special Jury Awards * Other Special Awards * Lester James Pieris Awards

Talent awards

* Merit Awards

Winners of past Sarasaviya Awards

* 1st Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1964) *

2nd Sarasaviya Awards The 2nd Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 2වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 1964 in Sinhala cinema on July 1, 1965, a ...

(held in 1965) *

3rd Sarasaviya Awards The 3rd Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 3වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 1965 Sinhala cinema on August 20, 1966, a ...

(held in 1966) * 4th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1967) * 5th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1968) * 6th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1969) * 7th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1970) * 8th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1980) * 9th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1981) *

10th Sarasaviya Awards The 10th Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 10වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 1981 Sinhala cinema on May 29, 1982, at ...

(held in 1982) * 11th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1983) * 12th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1984) * 13th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1985) *

14th Sarasaviya Awards The 14th Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 14වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 1985 Sinhala cinema on July 19, 1986, a ...

(held in 1986) * 15th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1987) * 16th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1988) * 17th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1990) *

18th Sarasaviya Awards The 18th Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 18වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 1988 Sinhala cinema on August 25, 1989, ...

(held in 1989) *

19th Sarasaviya Awards The 19th Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 19වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 1988 Sinhala cinema on August 16, 1991, ...

(held in 1991) *

20th Sarasaviya Awards The 20th Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 20වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 1991 Sinhala cinema on April 11, 1992, ...

(held in 1992) * 21st Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1993) * 22nd Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1994) * 23rd Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1995) * 24th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1996) *

25th Sarasaviya Awards The 25th Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 25වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 1996 Sinhala cinema on April 2, 1998, a ...

(held in 1998) * 26th Sarasaviya Awards (held in 1998) *

33rd Sarasaviya Awards The 33rd Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 33වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 2015 Sinhala cinema on December 15, 201 ...

(held in 2016) *

34th Sarasaviya Awards The 34rd Sarasaviya Awards festival (Sinhala: 34වැනි සරසවිය සම්මාන උලෙළ), presented by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, was held to honor the best films of 2016 and 2017 Sinhala cinema on Augus ...

(held in 2018)

References

{{Sarasaviya Awards 1964 establishments in Ceylon Awards established in 1964

Sarasaviya Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), also known as Lake House. It publishes three daily, three weekend, five weekly, two monthly and three annual publications in Sinhala, English and Tamil. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited is ...