The 41st SIGNIS Salutation Awards ceremony will be held under the auspices of Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, and SIGNIS International Chairman, Helen Osman at the BMICH, on August 25 . This year’s theme will be ‘The Proud Display of Youth Vitality in the Global Motion Picture Discourse’. The ceremony is organised under the patronage of Rev Fr Lal Pushpadewa Fernando OMI, President - SIGNIS Sri Lanka and Media Spokesperson for the Catholic Church Sri Lanka.
Rev Fr Lal Pushpadewa Fernando said, “The programme comprises a short film competition under the title ‘Director Tomorrow’. SIGNIS will encourage young filmmakers to consolidate their positions in the arena of filmmaking, and paves the way for youngsters to produce a radical and a decent cinema.”
“A short film festival comprising 10 best short films shortlisted from over 100 will be held at NFC’s Tharanganee hall. We will invite these 10 young filmmakers for the SIGNIS 2018 event on August 25 and felicitate the best three young directors there”, he said. Dr Edwin Ariyadasa talking about cinema evaluation lamented about the declining standards of present day reviewing. “At present, the art of effective cinema criticism does not exist in our country. We lack resourceful critiques. We also need a segment of viewers who appreciate new cinema and new concepts.
Experimenting young filmmakers must be encouraged and looked after by the authorities and the society”, he said. “To coincide with the Salutation Awards Ceremony, SIGNIS 2018 will conduct competitions on film critique, upholding the tradition, focused on cinematic literature. Accordingly, Jayawilal Wilegoda Cinema Review Competition for Novices will be conducted this year too,” he said. The SIGNIS Sri Lanka Awards are similar to the US Academy Awards.
They recognise achievements in categories such as, directing, editing, musical scoring, camerawork and lighting. The ceremony has become a gala event that attracts film and television stars, directors, cameramen, scriptwriters, critics and journalists.
The awards presentations are combined with dance and music performances by leading artistes, and clips from award-winning movies and TV programs. Apart from the industry awards, SIGNIS Sri Lanka also recognises individual contributions to local cinema and television through its “Homage” and “Special Salutation” lifetime awards.