Sumitra Peries, the first Sri Lankan female filmmaker and also the beloved wife of veteran Sri Lankan film director Lester James Peries, has passed away this morning (Jan. 19), at the age of 88.
She had reportedly passed away while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Colombo.
Born in 1934, she was aged 88 years at the time of her demise.
Her contribution to the development of Sinhala Cinema includes “Gehenu Lamai”, “Ganga Addara”, “Yahaluvo”, “Maya”, “Sakman Maluwa” and “Vaishnavee”.
Kala Keerthi Sumitra Peries has also served as Sri Lanka’s ambassador to France, Spain and the United Nations in the late 1990s.
Sumitra started off her own cinema director debut with her first film “Gehenu Lamai”, which was a box office hit and managed to bag many awards at the film festivals of the time, whereas her next film “Ganga addara” was another box office hit.
She has subsequently directed many more feature films which have all been subjected to international acclaim.
Fondly known as the “Poetess of Sinhala Cinema”, became the first director ever to shoot with the latest Red Epic camera in which her latest cinema venture “Vaishnavee” was shot in 2012 and laid the foundation for the next Generation Digital Cinema for Sri Lanka.
