For the second consecu-tive year the Jaff-na International Cinema Festival (JAFFNAICF) 2016

is to be held from September 23 to 27 in Jaffna. JAFFNAICF 2016 is presented by Agenda 14 in collaboration with the Fine Arts Department of the Univer-s i t y of Jaffna and the Ceylon

Theatres. The main intention of

JAFFNAICF 2016 is to celebrate independent cinema in the peninsu-la, recovering from the destruction caused by a 30-year-old armed con-flict and war. Using art to reach out to people, this festival would cre-ate a space for commu-nities across borders to interact with each other through cinema.

“Cinema of Sri Lanka is widely known as Sinhala cinema. In the south of the island itself, in the Indian Ocean region or in interna-tional film circuits far away, Sri Lanka is known for its Sin-hala language cin-ema. Yet there was

and is a cinema of the other, in this island which is not widely known or recognized by it’s own people or by the world outside.

That is Sri Lanka Tamil Cinema” speaking at the press conference, the JAFFNAICF Director, Anomaa Raja-karuna said.

The majority of the audience in the peninsula today is attracted to commer-cial cinema of South India and young

filmmakers are making use of the new technology without proper training or exposure to world cinema.

“At a time when the country is divided by the language we speak, the faith we believe in and the political ideologies we depend, cinema could become a powerful medium of expression in the journey towards peace and reconcilia-tion. It could create a dialogue across borders and communities. Unfortu-

nately cinema is not used in this man-ner in Sri Lanka today,” added Raja-karuna. This year’s Jaffna International Cinema Festival’s opening film will be announced soon and the closing film of this year’s festival will be award winning film Visaranai by Vetri Maaran. There are six main categories of films aligned to screen at the festival and please refer the below chart for more information:

JAFFNAICF 2016 will present three

awards honoring the seniors and encouraging the young generation. This includes a Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Debut Film Award and Best Short Film Award and Audience Award for the popular short film.

International critics in JAFFNAI-CF 2016 Juries: Alice Shih (Canada), Axel Estein (Germany), Gayatri Chat-terjee (India), Juan Carlos Lemus Polanía (Colombia) Masterclasses at JAFFNAICF2016: Three Masterclasses at JAFFNAICF will be conducted by, Andrea Wenzler (Germany) on edit-ing, Shanmuga Raja (India) on act-ing and Shyaman Premasundara (Sri Lanka) on sound designing. The Jaffna International Cinema Festival 2016 is a non-partisan platform to explore con-temporary forms of creative expression in cinema. JAFFNAICF 2016 other partners are National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka, Jetwing - Jaffna, Andrew The Travel Company, Embassy of Ger-many, High Commission of Canada, High Commission Of Australia, Goethe Institut, British Council, Embassy of France, Embassy of Switzerland, Embas-sy of Italy, Embassy of The Netherlands, Consulate of Slovakia, Consulate of Bel-gium, Polish Institute New Delhi, and Royal Embassy of Denmark New Delhi.

32 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

DIARY

Deepani de Alwis – Piano Recital – Lionel Wendt Theatre – 7 p.m.Colombo International Book Fair – BMICH - 9 a.m.Ablaze with Compassion – St. Bridget’s Convent – 6 p.m.Out of Time – Curve – 7 p.m.Paul Perera – California Grill – 7 p.m.Norma’n Jazz – Mount Lavinia Hotel – 11 a.m.Shasika + Upul - Sky, Kingsbury – 5 p.m.Thusitha Dananjaya – Galadari Hotel – 7 p.m.Arosha Katz/Beverly Rodrigo – Cinnamon Grand – 5 p.m.Los Paradians - Curry Leaf, Hilton – 7 p.m.Barefoot Band – Barefoot – 11 a.m.Sam the Man – Harbour Room – 7 p.m.

SUNDAY September 18

MONDAY September 19

Colombo International Book Fair – BMICH – 9 a.m.Stella Karaoke – Il Ponte – 8 p.m.Sam the Man – Mount Lavinia Hotel – 7 p.m.Shasika + Upul – Kingsbury Sky Lounge – 5.30 p.m. Thusitha Dananjaya – Galadari Hotel – 7 p.m.Shamal Fernando - California Grill – 7 p.mAnanda Dabare Duo – Cinnamon Grand – 7 p.m.DJ Shane – Library, Cinnamon Lakeside – 8 p.m.Savindswa Wijesekera – Cinnamon Lakeside – 7 p.m.

TUESDAY September 20

Colombo International Book Fair – BMICH – 9 a.m.Arosha Katz – Cinnamon Lakeside – 7 p.m.Trio – Cinnamon Grand – 7 p.m.Buddi de Silva – Cinnamon Grand – 5 p.m.Thusitha Dananjaya – Galadari Hotel – 7 p.m.DJ Shane – Library – Cinnamon Lakeside – 8 p.m.Shasika + Upul – Kingsbury – 5 p.m.Suranga Rajapakse – Curry Leaf – Hilton – 7 p.m. Gihan – Kingsbar – 8 p.m. Stella Karaoke – Il Ponte – 8 p.m.Shamal Fernando - California Grill – 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY September 21

Colombo International Book Fair – BMICH – 9 a.m.Shasika & Upul – Kingsbury Sky Lounge – 5.30 pDJ Kapila – Library – Cinnamon Lakeside – 8 p.m.Paul Perera – Galadari Hotel – 7 p.m.C & C – Kings Bar – 7 p.m.Suranga Rajapakse - Curry Leaf, Colombo Hilton 6 p.m.Arosha Katz/Beverly Rodrigo – Cinnamon Lakeside – 5 p.m.DJ Effex – Magarita Blue – 8 p.m. Shamal Fernando - California Grill – 7.p.m

THURSDAY September 22

Colombo International Book Fair – BMICH 9 a.m.Heat – Margarita Blue – 8.30 p.m.Heart & Soul – Mirage, Colombo 6 – 7 p.m. Savindswa Wijesekera – Cinnamon Lakeside – 7 p.m.Ananda Dabare String Quartet – Cinnamon Grand – 7 p.m. Kismet – Galadari Hotel - 7 p.m. Annesley – Kingsbar – 8 p.m. Paul Perera - California Grill – 7 p.m.Shasika & Upul – Kingsbury Sky Lounge – 5.30 p.m.Funk Junction – Curve – 7 p.m.

FRIDAY September 23

Med Kel 2016 – Ragama Medical Faculty Premises – 10 a.m.Colombo International Book Fair – BMICH – 9 a.m.Crossroads/Effex Djs – Margarita Blue – 8.30 p.m. DJ Shane – Library – Cinnamon Lakeside – 9 p.m.En Route – Cinnamon Grand – 5 p.m. Yohan and Honorine – Blue Waters, Wadduwa – 7 p.m. Arosha Katz – Cinnamon Lakeside – 7 p.m.Los Paradians – Curry Leaf – Colombo Hilton 7 p.m.Duraraij – Kingsbury Poolside – 6.30 p.m. Audio Squad – Rhythm & Blues – 8 p.m. Donald & Mirage – Asylum Restaurant and Lounge Bar – 7 p.m.Kismet – Galadari Hotel – 7 p.m.Rebels – Mount Lavinia Hotel – 7 p.m.Magic Box Mix up – Waters Edge – 8 p.m.3 Play - California Grill – 7 p.m.Train – Kingsbar – 8 p.m.Heart & Soul – Mirage, Colombo 6 – 7 p.m. Shasika + Upul – Kingsbury Sky Lounge – 5 p.m.

SATURDAY September 24

SOSL Pops Concert – Bishops College Auditorium – 7 p.m.Colombo International Book Fair – 2016 BMICH – 9 a.m.Shepherdian Dansante – Grand Kandyan Hotel – 7 p.m.Heart ‘N’ Soul – Galadari Hotel – 7 p.m.Sheridan – Kingsbar – 8 p.m. Duraraij – Kingsbury Poolside – 6.30 p.m.Buddhi de Silva/G 9 – Cinnamon Grand 5 p.m.Los Paradians – Curry Leaf, Colombo Hilton 7 p.m. Gravity/Effex DJs – Margarita Blue – 8.30 p.m.DJ Naushad – Waters Edge – 8 p.m.Sam the Man – Blue Water, Wadduwa – 7 p.m. Donald & Mirage – Asylum Restaurant and Lounge Bar – 7 p.m.Mignonne, Maxi & Suraj Trio - Dance for your Supper, California Grill - 7 p.m.Norma’n Jazz – Mount Lavinia Hotel – 7 p.m. Maxwell Fernando – Cinnamon Lakeside – 7 p.m. DJ Shane - Library – Cinnamon Lakeside – 8 p.m.

ENTERTAINMENT

It was an evening of really good contemporary music, based on the English usage of the word, not the pop culture usage. The music was challenging and singer/saxophonist

Gananath Dasanayaka picked up the gaunt-let and proved his versatility as a musician. The evening was his presentation of The Great American Songbook with his band En Route, in aid of Music Project Charity.

He cut his teeth on swing music a la Frank Sinatra and as he once said “Swing

is a religion” for him. He got into the mood of the evening with his opener, Almost Like Being in Love and set the tone for what was to follow. That the capacity-packed audi-ence lapped up every word, every phrase of his delivery was never in doubt.

It led us to believe that people like music not because of the style, not because it is old fashioned, but because it is music that is honest and speaks to them. And that Gananath did - worked his way through into their hearts. There were other favour-ites too. Somebody Loves You, I Wish You Love and Get Me To the Church On Time.

I must pause here to turn the spotlight on two of his friends, Dr. Kovainda de Seram who emulated Dean Martin in his singing of the songs, ‘An Evening in Roma’ and Volare,’ and Piman Wimalaratne whose silent mode skits while the music was on, produced enjoyable appreciation from the audience. Gananath’s backing band gave him the right support and expertise needed for the songs.

On keyboards were Debbi Arnolda and Dilip Seneviratne, guitar work was han-dled by Ramesh Nonis, while Niroshan de Silva worked out the complexities of the

swing tunes with his snare and cymbals, and Maxie Pietersz kept the rhythm in control plucking his “my creation” double bass.

With a changing backdrop of scenes from America including Manhattan, Las Vegas, New York, Gananath went into Ole Man River, a tricky arrangement of Day In Day Out, the Jimmy Van Heusen - Sammy Cahn composition My Kind of Town which Frank Sinatra recorded with his son Sinatra Jnr, the popular Beyond the Sea, Mack the Knife which saw Pimal Wimalaratne dressed to the nines strutting the stage in a skit of his

own making. That was not all. Route 66, Strangers in the Night which turned out to be a rage, the dicey arrangement of New York New York that hit the top of the list and Gananath rounded his performance with Bye Bye Blackbird and invited the audience to “make his bed and light the light, he’ll arrive home tonight... black bird bye bye”.

Before I sign off singing the refrain I must mention that this time I sure missed ‘Mrs Frank Sinatras’ (Mrs. Gananath Dasanay-ake’s) compering which had a creativity and individuality laced with humour. I’m keep-ing my fingers crossed for the next time.

A DIFFERENT SPARKLING EVENT

THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK

Jaffna International Cinema Festival 2016(JAFFNAICF 2016)

Film Category Number of films Countries

European Panorama 10 Belgium/Denmark/Germany/ Italy/Romania/ Poland/Slovakia/ Switzerland/The Netherlands/France

Official Selection 12 Germany/USA/Lebanon/The Netherlands/Italy/India/Australia/ France/Sri Lanka/Switzerland/

Denmark/UK

Debut Competition 09 India/Canada/Germany/ Myanmar/Bangladesh Nepal/Nigeria On Invitation 02 Sri LankaTraveling Films South Asia 05 India/PakistanShort films Over 20 Sri Lanka

If we were to nominate the one person whose contribu-tion to the art of Sri Lanka surpasses all others, it would be Cora Abraham.

Mrs. Abraham was a sec-ondary school teacher and, as it was the practice of those days, taught a variety of sub-jects but the one that capti-vated her interest above all else was art.

She subscribed to the princi-ple that the genius of children should be released from the confines of conservatism and be allowed to blossom freely, without prejudice.

This called for an attitude of mind that encouraged free expression; the freedom to experiment with colour and line, and with clay. Coming to terms with the visual and the tactile world which is the business of artists to explore, understand, communicate and celebrate.

In 1949, Mrs. Abraham started a small school in Bam-balapitiya with two like-mind-ed artists and teachers, Sita and Richard Gabriel, which soon came to be attributed to Melbourne though it was in a Colombo suburb. Just as soon the Melbourne Art Classes were to become an establish-ment of great achievement.

Together they nourished the latent talents of vast num-

bers of children, from the quite young until they were to become mature teenagers. These students then contin-ued to indulge in the joys of painting or remained deeply engaged in what others were attempting to do.

A fine critical conscience was born from all this.

As they grew older, Mrs. Abraham provided them with other opportunities to prac-tice their art; she started the Young Artists Group. Many of those original children are now established artists, archi-tects and professionals in many fields.

Mrs. Abraham died at the age of 84 years in December 1979 and the school she began continues to work under a name that applauds her con-tribution to the art of Sri Lanka. The Cora Abraham Art Classes now functions at 26 Boteju Road, Colombo 5, pur-suing the methods of teaching to which Mrs. Abraham had dedicated her entire life.

The legacy of Cora Abraham

The Association of Retired Flag Rang Officers (ARFRO) of the three Armed Forc-es, is an Organisation of retired Senior Officers (of Rank of Brigadier Gen-eral, its equivalent and above) having an irrefu-table unblemished character and record, with the objective of uplifting the knowledge base of the serving officers, their own mem-bership and the living standard as well as the welfare meted out to the fami-lies of those brave fellow servicemen/servicewomen who made the supreme sacrifice, for the cause of the country, in the face of the enemy.

The support to those 2000+ registered Ranaviru Families is in the shape of skills training, housing, nutrition, coun-selling and help in their hour of need, as was done during the recent floods and the aftermath of the Salawa episode.

On October 2nd at 6.30 p.m., the pop-ular stage drama, Saadaya Maarayi: Salli Hamaarayi will be staged at the Anan-da College Kularatne Hall, to generate funds for the ‘Ranaviru Family Coun-selling and Support Services’ to help them in continue in their good work of uplifting the morale, living standard and the mental wellbeing of those affected families.

The drama is based on the popular English stage play Funny Money by Brit-ish play write Ray Cooney, translated by Saman Pushpa Liyanage and evolve around a Sri Lankan expatriate couple (Mr. and Mrs. Fernando) who amidst much hardship, channel their savings

towards their kith and kin in Sri Lanka, who unexpectedly

comes across a huge sum of money that affects their

lifestyle.It is produced by

Priyankara De Silva and the cast consists

of renown artists Gihan Fernando, Janani Senanay-

ake, Dharmapriya Dias, Day-adewa Edirisinghe, Anuradha

Perera, Aloka Sampath, Anuradha Mallawarachchi; Music by Ruwan Wal-

pola, Make up by Prema Jayanth Kapuge, Stage handling by Aruna Jayasena, Stage Setting by Wasantha Rathnayake.

The drama won many towards includ-ing the award for the Best Actor, Best Actress and best Stage Handling in 2015 and is packed with humour and many a hilarious moment, will provide real entertainment for those who join us.

The tickets will be available for sale at Salaka Senkada, Union Place and Sarasavi Bookshop Nugegoda and Sad-heepa Book Shop Borella and also circu-lated amongst the three Armed Forces.

Please pick your ticket early and sup-port this worthy cause.

ARFRO generates funds for amongst its membership and from the entrepre-neurs and well-wishers (Including dias-pora) who readily support our cause, as well as by staging benefit shows and through similar fund raising campaigns.

Apart from these activities, ARFRO also organises speeches to be delivered by erudite scholars on a variety of sub-jects related to the many facets of securi-ty, such as food, polity, economy, energy, environment etc. and policy.

Gayamu Eda Gee 2016

ARFRO stage popular Sinhala drama for benefi t of Ranaviru Family Counselling

The best of Sinhala old favourite songs of yesteryear, will be enacted on stage in the form of a sing-along presented by the ‘Moratuwa Arts Forum’ (MAF) as the 5th edition, on September 24, at Holy Emmanuel Parish Hall, Idama, Moratuwa at 6.30 pm. A traditional orchestra would provide the authentic musical backing for the participants to sing their hearts out, guided by the ‘MAF’ singers.

The sing-along of Sinhala Golden Oldies, namely, Gayamu Eda Gee is one of the pet events done by the Moratuwa Arts Forum’ along with Punsanda Paaya and Down Memory Lane.

by Mahes Perera

The English Writers Cooperative (EWC) has organized a half day seminar on ‘Creative Writ-ing’ on Saturday September 24, 2016 from 9 am to 1.30 p.m. at the auditorium of the Federa-tion of University Women at 96/25, Kiltulwatte Road, Colombo 8.

The sessions will be conducted by academ-ics through presentations and discussion, followed by a three member panel discussion on the several aspects of creative writing,

which includes a question and answer ses-sion.Those interested in participating should send their applications with name, address and telephone number via email to nanpw@sltnet.lk or mtlebell@gmail.com by September 18, 2016. Mid-morning refreshments will be supplied.

The seminar fee of Rs.1,000 per participant could be paid at registration at 8.30 a.m. at the venue.