- Inoka Sathyangani
Infobox Actor
name =Inoka Sathyangani Keerthinanda
imagesize = 125px
caption =
birth_date =
birth_place =Sri Lanka
death_date =
death_place =
occupation =Film director , ProducerInoka Sathyangani Keerthinanda is an internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan film director and producer. In the year 2002, she received critical acclaim for her maiden effort "
Sulang Kirilli ", which deals with the theme ofabortion . The film bagged the highest number of awards won by a single film in the history of Sri Lanka's film industry. She is an active member of "Colombo Independents Cinema Forum" which works towards a "better and wholesome Srilankan cinema". After a highly productive maiden venture, she is regarded as one of the few successful female directors in Sri Lanka.cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3747370.stm|title=Home truths for Sri Lankan film|publisher=BBC News|date=18 October ,2004 ]Biography
Early life
Keerthinanda had her early education at Sujatha Vidyalaya, before moving on to
Visakha Vidyalaya ,Colombo for her secondary studies.With her inborn talent and creativity for artistic work, she won almost all of the house competitions in her young days. However, going in the footsteps of her father and brother, who are both lawyers, she too was selected for the Faculty of Law at the
University of Colombo .Not very enthusiastic about law, she dropped off in her final year of studies, to pursue a career in
film-making .Career
Keerthinanda first worked as a Trainee Production director in 'Telecine' under veteran director D.B. Nihalsinghe. Then she joined 'Teleview' as a Freelance TV Director. It was there, that she directed her first teledrama 'Nidi Nethi Reyak Sihinayak'.
After working on a couple of more teledramas, she launched her career as a film director in 2002 with 'Sulang Kirilli' which dealt with the controversial theme of 'abortion'. It won many local as well as international awards, including the
Sarasaviya Best Actress Award forDamitha Abeyratne , who also made her debut as afilm actress .She also participated in the 34th International Film Festival of India 2003, at Siri Fort in New Delhi on October 17, 2003.
Filmography
*
Sulang Kirilli (The Wind Bird, 2003)cite news| url=http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2004/08/29/fea16.html|title=Sarasaviya Awards:And the verdict is...|publisher=Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka)|date=29 August ,2004 ] cite news| url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/031005/plus/5.htm|title=An influential maiden effort
publisher=The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka,ISSN:1391-0531)|date=05 October ,2003 ]Awards
Presidential Film Awards Festival
2004 - Wishwa Keerthi Award
Sarasaviya Awards 2003 -
Sarasaviya Best Director Award 8th Dhaka International Film Festival
2004 - Best Film Award (GRAND PRIX)
2004 - Best film - The International Critics Award (FIPRESCI AWARD)
O.C.I.C.(Jury for International Catholic Bureau of Film) - 21st Cinematica Del Uruguaya in Latin America. 2003 - Best Film 2003 - Best New Director - The Major Opera Prima AwardOther Awards
2003 - Best Feature Film - Silver Dhow award - The Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania
2003 - The Best Director - Tamil Nadu International Film Festival (Channi International Film Festival) in India
References
* [http://www.srilanka-botschaft.de/NEWSupdates_neu/Press_Releases/APW05/windbirdE.htm Asia Pacific Film Festival, September 2005]
* [http://www.bapff.de/site/sf_windbi.php?lang=eng Berlin Asia-Pacific Film Festival - 2005]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3747370.stm Home truths for Sri Lankan film : BBC News - 18 October, 2004]
* [http://www.standardnewspaperslk.com/WES2006-01-28/story1404.html Sathyangani of "Wind bird's" fame claims wings]
* [http://lakdiva.org/suntimes/010318/tv.html "Sulan Kirilli" : Maiden effort by Sathyangani]
* [http://www.lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1553 International Award-winning film director speaks out]External links
*imdb|1455787|Inoka Sathyangani
*imdb title|id=0381630|title=Sulang Kirilli
* [http://www.srilankafilmcorp.com/about/ National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka - Official Website]
* [http://www.colombocinefo.com/about.html Colombo Independents Cinema Forum]
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