Three film enthusiasts discuss the future and challenges of a local cinema industry in times of the pandemic

“The cinema industry is not even a real industry in our country,” agreed all three guests who participated in a discussion on the future of cinema by Sarasaviya magazine. On the evening of August 13, 2021 veteran actor and film director Jackson Anthony, film producer and chairman of the Raigam group of companies Dr. Ravi Liyanage and the secretary of the Film Exhibitors Association Janith Prasanna Withanage joined forces to debate the future of local cinema and all its challenges. 

Dr. Ravi Liyanage is a relative newcomer to the local cinema industry. “Kadira Divyaraja” a film he recently produced is yet to be released. However, even a relative newcomer is fast to observe the pitfalls of a straggling industry, worsened by a pandemic. Even with the limited experience Liyanage has in the industry, he believes that the local cinema industry has been declining for a long time, adding that the pandemic did little to worsen it. “All that Covid did was shut to nail the lid of the coffin in which our cinema industry had already been laid,” Liyanage said. 

From an entrepreneur’s perspective he said that there are no industrial qualities to be seen in the cinema field and that there’s no profit to be seen in it either. According to him, our cinema industry is basically pushing away the entrepreneurs. “Would the cinema industry even exist now if not for the few remaining entrepreneurs we have?” he asked. “There should be people who can invest in film. Tamil and Hindi films have enough investors. But the Sinhala films have nowhere to go. There is no quality content being produced in Sinhala. So why would investors get attracted to it?”

"There should be people who can invest in film. Tamil and Hindi films have enough investors. But the Sinhala films have nowhere to go. There is no quality content being produced in Sinhala. So why would investors get attracted to it?”

The versatile veteran actor turned director, Jackson Anthony has reigned the field for nearly 40 years. He also has

four films under his directorial belt,  including ‘Jullietge Bhumikawa’, ‘Abha’, and ‘Address Na’. Weighing in on the topic, Anthony said that there is no ‘special tragedy’ that has befallen our cinema industry. The challenges that he observed over the decades  were mainly the war, several social ongoing social issues and now the pandemic. Therefore, according to Anthony, it is precious time that was lost and wasted. He pointed out that Sri Lanka is a very small country and the cinema industry hasn’t been registered as an actual industry. “If several films are made, only a few would actually be successful. It’s the same in India. Many films get produced in India but only a few actually become popular. It’s the nature of the world,” he opined.  Anthony believes that one cannot outline a tragedy or a crisis that has victimized our cinema industry.

‘It’s not a cinema crisis’

“I don’t like the word, cinema crisis. It’s a social crisis, not one associated with cinema especially. We shouldn’t disrespect it, throw it away or discriminate against it.” His own new films including “Eka Gei Sokari” are also stuck in the pipeline. When tragedy strikes, it’s usually the entertainment industry that falls first. Anthony elaborated on why it is futile to complain about this nature. 

“When a ship is sinking, it’s the musical instruments that are thrown out first.” We should understand the situation of the country and work accordingly. With the pandemic, every industry in our country has declined and therefore there obviously isn’t a huge profit that we can secure from the cinema industry. Commenting on Ravi Liyanage’s opinion of this ‘dead industry’ Jackson Anthony questioned as to why a new producer has arrived in the industry with the hopes of making a new film, if the industry is really dead or worthless. 

Anthony said that once the country emerges from this social crisis, the film community shouldn’t be empty handed. “We should be ready and optimistic and this applies to every industry. When the world changes, we should agree and adapt to that change. And the same applies to the cinema culture.” He stated that we should change when the world changes and not be pessimistic. “We should open these cultural gates and milestones and approach new eras with time,” Anthony said.

"If several films are made, only a few would actually be successful. It’s the same in India. Many films get produced in India but only a few actually become popular. It’s the nature of the world"

Janith Prasanna Withanage then countered by saying that it’s important to understand the challenges that are in front of us now in order to face the future of the cinema industry and move forward. 
75 years have lapsed since the first film in Sri Lanka “Kadawunu Poronduwa” Withanage noted, but over the decades film is not yet a formally recognised industry for professionals. 
“Even just a few months ago, we requested the national film corporation to recognise the cinema industry as an industry and offer the privileges and tax incentives that other industries receive.” 

Dwindling audiences and technology starved cinemas

According to Withanage, since the end of the war, 107 theatres and cinemas out of 245 ceased operations permanently. By the end of 2019, only 138 remained. “As of 2021, Sri Lanka has 187 cinemas, both multiplex and single location cinemas. Even though permission was granted to reopen cinema halls, only about 100 of them are actually running. This is a crucial issue when it comes to the future of our cinema industry,” he observed.  “No one asks the cinema exhibitors about their situation. The film halls in the main cities will continue to run whereas the rural ones will inevitably cease operations,” he said. 

Withanage’s question was how can businesses in the film industry actually attract audience to film halls. He explained that according to the data from 2019, the Sinhala film audience views have decreased by 58.35%. “There should be a reason as to why this is happening. Something that is also crucial to note is that the Bollywood film audience views have decreased massively by some 90%.” According to Withanage’s observations, it is due to the careless airing of Hindi films by television channels. 

"We should be ready and optimistic and this applies to every industry. When the world changes, we should agree and adapt to that change. And the same applies to the cinema culture"

“People are fed up with this idea and are no longer interested in watching them in cinema halls. Now the same story is happening with Tamil films. The cinema industry hasn’t had much profit for quite a long time now and it’s not necessarily something that happened because of the pandemic. This is going to affect both the film exhibitors and producers and they might not be able to even cover their initial cost,” he said.  

With the pandemic, more than eight cinema halls ceased operations permanently, Withanage stressed. “People only visit the film halls in the city but don’t go to the rural ones, as the technology in these cinemas need major refurbishments. Therefore there are no films to give these struggling cinema halls. He stressed on the fact that it’s important to distribute opportunities across the field if we are to expect a proper profit driven industry in Sri Lanka. Only then will we be able to secure cinema’s success in this country.

One key ailment in the Sri Lankan cinema industry was observed by Prof. Ravi Liyanage, which is the merging of art and industry. “We should merge art and industry in order for our cinema sector to be successful and also to safeguard its continuity. This discussion should actually be done with the government. I admire the Sarasaviya magazine for doing this. But why isn’t there a discussion about recognising the cinema industry as an actual industry? Just because the entertainment sector is treated lower than the other fields in society, doesn’t mean we can discard it,” he opined. 

"For success to be achieved as an industry, there should exist entrepreneurship and monetisation together with the artistic qualities for this industry to improve"

Liyanage went on to explain that there is no insurance for entrepreneurs in this industry, or any means of a safety net. According to the film enthusiast, the fact that cinema is only evaluated in an artistic sense is a key reason for its downfall. He observed that for success to be achieved as an industry, there should exist entrepreneurship and monetisation together with the artistic qualities for this industry to improve. He further explained that if the businessmen and the entrepreneurs are inspired and encouraged, there is a high probability for success in this field. And according to Liyanage it is a goal not far from reality.

“Film exhibitors are heroes during this crisis situation” said Jackson Anthony. “We should admire the ones who are still standing, still holding on to this industry and protecting it especially given the current situation of the country.” But all hope is not lost, he said.  Anthony’s argument was that cinema is going through a transition. It’s almost like a revolution. There will come a day when the theatre will become a rare specimen, but a respected place to which people go as a tradition like the opera, kabuki and the ballet.

Anthony foresees a future of cinema where it will be available at our fingertips and purely in digital form.  But he suggested that film enthusiasts aren’t totally satisfied with this form either. “It is certainly overwhelming but we have to agree with this change and go along with it. We also complained about the internet and social media but we are using it now, aren’t we?” Anthony questioned. 

“Even though the artistic side of our films are interesting, we don’t have a place for it in the international world because of the language barrier. We should produce bilingual films in order to face this challenge and inspire  change in our cinema,” Anthony stressed that this is his intention too.

"It’s almost like a revolution. There will come a day when the theatre will become a rare specimen, but a respected place to which people go as a tradition like the opera, kabuki and the ballet"

Survival, a question of teamwork

Janith Prasanna Withanage noted that at a given moment, he couldn’t exactly tell the number of film halls that are open, as there is a dire problem with obtaining data during the pandemic. An approximate 81 Sinhala film halls are open to the public, along with a few English ones. “But there are no Tamil cinema halls open at the moment. One reason for this situation is that there is no collaborative planning ahead among the producers of our country,” he lamented. “There should be more collaborative approaches to sustaining this industry, among the producers, directors, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. Their collective support and work is what is needed at this time.”
Echoing Withanage’s observations Jackson Anthony agreed that some crucial elements of film production and distribution  has unfortunately become the sole duty of the producer alone. “It only becomes teamwork when people are earning out of it. There’s no support from the others and that’s a major problem that needs fixing,” Anthony highlighted. All three panelists agreed that success is a fruit that is borne of collective effort.