CULTURE-SRI LANKA: Liberalisation Set To Sweep Film Industry

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, May 17 1999 (IPS) - Sri Lanka’s film industry, in the doldrums since the late 1970s, is preparing for radical changes after the government said it was abandoning control over distribution.

When President Chandrika Kumaratunga announced the new, liberal National Film Policy earlier this month including free sale, import and distribution of local and foreign films, it came as a pleasant surprise for the industry.

But then Kumaratunga, who retains the entertainment portfolio, happens to be the widow of Vijaya a popular movie idol who turned to politics and was finally assassinated by left-wing guerrillas in the late eighties.

“The changes are commendable and should see a marked turnaround in cinema in terms of quality and quantity,” said Tissa Abeyesekera, an award-winning film director and writer.

But he cautions that though the changes were realistic and practical and in tune with what was happening around the world, it still needed a team of committed professionals to oversee transformation.

The local film industry is plagued by dilapidated cinemas and the films imported through the state-run National Film Corporation (NFC) are of poor quality and remarkable for its content of sex and violence.

Once popular as a place for family entertainment, cinemas showing English-language movies now draw mostly young men and unmarried couples interested in the action and violence or just the privacy of a darkened hall.

Rising crime in Sri Lanka, particularly against women and children, have also been attributed to the violence depicted in films and also the television.

The industry and the NFC have blamed each other for the crisis. But politicians must also share the blame having used film stars for political purposes and promising them favours in return.

Few serious or quality films have been produced in the country in recent times or imported from abroad. Lack of quality films and clean cinemas have compelled many Sri Lankans to watch television or videos in their living rooms.

The presidential statement on May 7 said that the new National Film Policy is intended to restore viewer-friendliness to the industry and ensure that cinema artistes are gainfully employed.

It said the reforms would end NFC monopoly over distribution and import of both local and foreign films while also liberalising the laws and regulations governing the import and distribution of imported films.

The NFC would henceforth function only as a regulator, monitor and formulator of rules for the industry, the statement said.

Other features of the new policy include concessionary government financing of up to 36,700 dollars for colour films and 22,000 dollars for black and white films and tax concessions for film producers.

A reduction in the compulsory entertainment tax paid to local authorities and the restriction of a levy on a goods and services to box office collections are also helpful.

“It’s a brave attempt by the president to resurrect a dying business,” said Imtiaz Cader, executive director of Ceylon Entertainment Ltd, owners of the classy Liberty cinema in Colombo and some other theatres.

He said the once profitable cinema business was now running up huge losses with his firm reporting a loss of 14,000 dollars for the year ending March 1999.

The number of cinemas in existence in Sri Lanka has come down sharply to 130 now from the 365 in the 1970s when state controls, including the creation of the NFC, came into force.

Cader, who is also treasurer of the National Film Exhibitors Association, said though the NFC had allowed the private sector to import some films since 1997 the tariffs were restrictive and distribution companies in the United States were not prepared to negotiate.

“This forced private importers to import from cheaper sources, resulting in a drop in quality,” he said.

Liberty and other high-class Colombo theatres like the Regal or Majestic were exclusive exhibitors of Hollywood’s best movies and rarely showed a Sinhala film. Nowadays, they show a mix of

Sinhala and English action movies.

Top grossing films like the ‘Titanic’ are yet to be released in Sri Lanka though they are freely available on video.

Like many other cinema owners, Cader visualises exciting times ahead and his company has plans to build two or three multiplex entertainment centres with cinemas, food courts and other attractions in each complex.

“We were prepared to invest in these centres about five years ago with foreign collaboration but it didn’t work out at that time. We can revive proposals now since the industry has been liberalised,” he said.

Actress Veena Jayakody, who welcomed Kumaratunga’s initiative, attributed the poor state of Sri Lankan cinema to high production costs. “It’s too costly to produce a film nowadays and investors are getting into financial difficulties,” she said.

She said the cost of cinema tickets was also prohibitive for the average family. “Few families can afford to spend about 7 dollars on tickets.”

The number of tickets sold in Sri Lankan cinemas annually has dropped to around 20 million from 80 million in the late 1970s and is a good index of the general state of the industry..

Top stars also do a film or less a year now compared to four to five on average some years ago. Many have taken to television soap in order to survive.

Film director Abeyesekera rejects the view that television and videos are responsible for the poorer draws at the cinema pointing to the success of the cinema in other countries against a much more vibrant television market.

“We need to forge an alliance between films and television,” he said.

Cader echoed similar views, saying that television had not made inroads into the cinema business. “Rather we have been supplying a poor quality product,” he said.

One of the biggest problems for the local film industry presently is the long waiting time for a Sinhalese movie to get released and move to the higher circuits. And this plays havoc with overheads.

. The NFC has five circuits through which it releases films and gaining the higher circuits quickly by ‘jumping the queue’ is said to be politically influenced .

Some films have waited for up to five years for release in the prestigious fifth circuit, which includes the best cinemas in Sri Lanka.