Sri Lanka, the beautiful island with so many cultural values and geographical differences including ancient cities such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, beautiful beaches such as Trinco and Galle, cultural and social differences such as Jaffna and Kandy etc.. has classified as a valuable destination for tourism. The unique feature is the ability of air travel to any part of the island in less than an hour. This has made to attract more international movie makers to use Sri Lanka as a prime location for their productions since 1950. Some popular creations made by using Sri Lankan locations are as follows.
1957 – The Bridge on the River Kwai – Directed by David Lean
1984 – Indiana Jones – Temple of Doom – Directed by Steven Spielberg
1981 – Tarzan the ape man – Directed by John Derrick
1997 – Mother Theresa – Directed by Kevin Corner
2005 – Water – Directed by Deepa Metha
2011 – Ready ( Hindi ) – Anees Basmi
In addition to that, some documentaries such as “ The Monkey Kindom” Tele drams such as “ Karma Hospital” ( 2016 ) , lot of music videos and commercials are produced in Sri Lankan locations.
During the period of war, there was a drop of selecting Sri Lanka by international producers. But now there is a significant growth can be observed with the post war development. There is a major encouragement from the government also to attract them which will definitely bring more foreign exchange.
Apart from the foreign investments, there is a mega free publicity in international arena about the country which will be a major boost for tourism as well. It will help for our cinema technicians to gain a good income and new knowledge. New job opportunities will be created. This will be a good platform for local artists to get involve with international professionals and share the experience by obtaining the global exposure.
To enhance this process, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Authority has applied a strategic approach to promote the island as an international film locations destination.
As the first step of this, Mr. Sunil Ratnayake who is a senior cinema and television Professional with his 30years experience has appointed as the Coordinator for foreign films and television productions in Sri Lanka. The official appointment was presented in 13th January 2016 at Grand Ballroom, Waters Edge with the participation of over 400 distinguish invitees. The appointment letter was presented by Hon.John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Affairs.
Parallel to the presentation, Arri Alexa Super XT camera and Ultra Prime lenses, also officially launched in Sri Lanka. The product is the latest in its range and used more than 80% of Hollywood productions as well. Mr.Hans, Director Sales of Arri Alexa Germany and Mr. Philip who was one of the camera directors of James Bond 007 – Skyfall movie, made detailed presentation about the Camera and Lenses. The grand event was witnessed by Hon. Rajitha Senaratne – Minister of Health, Hon. Ravi Karunanayake – Minister of Finance, Hon John Amaratunga – Minster of Tourism, Artists, Industry professionals and higher management representatives of clients and advertising agencies.
