Prasanna Vithanage

(Sri Lanka, 1962) is nationally and internationally recognized as the talent of the Sri Lanka cinema. From a young age he occupied himself with theater. He translated and directed Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man and Dario Fo's Raspberries and Trumpets. In 1992 he made his first film Sisila Gini Gani (Ice on Fire),four years later followed by Anantha Rathriya (Dark night of the soul), for which he also wrote the script. In 1997 he made two films: Pawuru Walulu (Walls within) and Purahanda Kaluwara (Death on a Full Moon Day), which was initially boycotted. Vithanage won the lawsuit against the ban on showing the film and after that Purahanda Kaluwara became one of the most succesful films of Sri Lanka's film history. Vithanage's films are shown in festivals worldwide and have won many prizes. On January 15 and 16 and February 4 of this year the Tropical Institute in Amsterdam organizes a restrospective on Prasanna Vithanage. You will be able to see Purahanda Kaluwara , Pawuru Walalu and his latest film Ira Madiyama (August Sun).