Pria Viswalingam

Pria Viswalingam is a prominent Australian documentary and filmmaker. He is of Sri Lankan ancestry and was born in 1962 in Malaysia. He was schooled there, as well as in Britain, Singapore and Australia. He is a Sydney-based journalist and television presenter, best known for his work for the Australian Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) network.

He moved to Australia in 1978 and gained an Associate Diploma in Performing Arts from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 1987. His broadcasting experience began in radio, as a newsreader and as a reporter, specialising in politics and international affairs.

He initially worked for the News, where he also was a stand-in presenter for the television news. Later he hosted "Dateline", "Tonight", "Asia Report" and "Wine Lovers’ Guide to Australia".

Probably most popular and memorable were his "A Fork in the Road" travelogues from 1992 until 2004. Including "A Fork in Australia", "... Asia", "... Africa" and "... the Mediterranean", 62 episodes of approximately 25 minutes length were aired.

In 2001 he produced, directed and narrated for SBS "Class", a 4 x 52 minutes series "that looks at the slow death of egalitarian Australia. A society changing into an economy in which new wealth-driven divisions are widening the gap between rich and poor", said the summary by the Australian Film Commission.

In 2001, he directed the four 30 minutes episodes of "A Yen for a Dollar", a program which had a look at Asian culture through the prism of business. This series aired on the ABC in February 2002

In 2003, Viswalingam took at look at Australia's corporate world in the series She'll be right, Boss - a layman's look at "the big end of town" in Australia which comprised 5 episodes of 25 minutes each.

In 2006. he produced and presented "Decadence", with reflections on modern life in the West, in six episodes of 30 minutes each (Including advertisements).

External links

* [http://www.forkfilms.com.au/ Fork Films] - Pria Viswalingam's production company
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* [http://www.afc.gov.au/filmsandawards/filmdbsearch.aspx?view=contact&contact=VISWALIP Pria Viswalingam at the Australian Film Commission]