The film festival, organised by SPORTSINFO, Sri Lanka’s premier sports promotion network in collaboration with National Sports Development Foundation aims to strengthen the country’s sports literature base through cinematic creations. 

This inaugural SILK International Sports Film Festival will be held at the Tharangani Theatre of the National Film Corporation from 26 to 28 February. The three days of the festival will be graced by the presence of Harin Fernando, Minister of Telecommunication, Foreign Employmednt and Sports; Kumarasinghe Sirisena, Chairman, SLT and Arjuna Ranatunga, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and 1996 Cricket World Cup Winning Captain respectively.

The objective of the organisers is to bring together passionate Sports Instructors, Social Scientists, Cinematographers, Literary Figures, Sports Critics and fans onto a single platform and introduce them to use Sports Media and Communication as a tool to reach greater heights in sports arena. 

It also aims to promote cinema as a medium of sports education with related to subjects such as Sports science, Sports psychology, Sports medicine and Sports sociology in creating a sports-centered culture. The Film Festival further reinforces the need of building a base of sports literature while reaching towards international victories.  Yet another primary objective of this initiative is to introduce sports based literature as a learning material for sports enthusiasts. 

According to many prominent sports personalities, a systematic programme should be implemented to enrich Sri Lanka’s sports literature including sports themed novels, short stories, sports literature reviews and sports documentaries, which will in return contribute to motivate the budding sports stars of the country.

Today, developed nations including the United States of America, Australia as well as the United Kingdom and also Asian countries such as Japan, China and South Korea have made the maximum use of cinema productions as a source of sports literature.

In the following year, SPORTSINFO plans to organise an International Cinema Festival in parallel with the Film Festival. An International Awards Ceremony is also planned to be held to recognise diverse talents including Best Documentary Film, Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Editor. 

A symposium on sports cinematography will also be held with the participation of Harsha B Abeykoon, Sri Lanka Representative, Federation Interanationale Cinema Television Sportifs (FICTS) and External Lecturer. The panel will consist of eminent personalities including Dr Samantha Nanayakkara, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo; Rear Admiral Dr Shemal Fernando, Executive Committee Member, National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka and External Lecturer; Dr Seevali Jayawickreme, Director General, Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency and Deeptha Bandara, Veteran Film Critic. 

SLT - PEO TV proudly sponsors the PEO TV SILK Film Festival while www.helawoodpopcorn.com joins hands as the official website of the event. 

The opening film of the festival will be ‘Miracle Season’, which features how a devastating loss led an American girls’ volleyball team to victory. Directed by Sean McNamara, Miracle Season was first screened in April, 2018. ‘Gold’, a film based upon the Indian hockey team that won the first Olympic medal for India as a free nation in 1948 was first screened in August, 2018. This Bollywood blockbuster directed by ReemaKagti will be screened on the second day of the film festival. Released in September, 2016, ‘M S Dhoni’ is the incredible story of India’s cricketing legend Dhoni, which was directed by NeerajPandey. M S Dhoni will be shown on the last day. 

For further details, contact Sanjeewa on +94 776 797997