The long read · Sri Lankan cinema
The Island on Screen: Sri Lankan Cinema and Its Global Stars
Sri Lanka has a cinema of its own, gentle and observant, and a landscape Hollywood has borrowed for jungle bridges and temple adventures. Here is the story, from Rekava to Cannes, and the island on the world’s screens.
Updated October 2026
From the first talkie to Rekava
Kadawunu Poronduwa, the first Sinhala talkie, opened in January 1947, made in South India in the style of the Indian musicals. The turn came with Lester James Peries’s Rekava, which premiered at the Regal in Colombo in December 1956: shot in a real village rather than a studio, it became the first Sinhala film in competition at Cannes. His Gamperaliya (1963) won the Golden Peacock in India.
Sumitra Peries, his wife and a director in her own right, and the realist Dharmasena Pathiraja widened the picture in the 1970s. During the long civil war, from 1983 to 2009, directors such as Prasanna Vithanage made quiet films about its cost, and in 2005 Vimukthi Jayasundara’s The Forsaken Land won the Caméra d’Or for the best first feature at Cannes.
Must-watch films
To understand Sri Lankan cinema, start with these, and read our back story, From Rekava to Cannes.
- Rekava (1956): Lester James Peries’s village story, the film that gave Sinhala cinema its own voice.
- Gamperaliya (1963): Peries’s adaptation of Martin Wickramasinghe’s novel of a changing village family.
- Gehenu Lamai (1978): Sumitra Peries’s first feature, the tender story of a village girl’s coming of age.
- The Forsaken Land (2005): Vimukthi Jayasundara’s Caméra d’Or winner, slow and haunting.
From Rekava to Cannes: Sri Lankan cinema
The stars
Sri Lankans grew up with these faces.
- Gamini Fonseka: the great leading man of Sinhala cinema from the 1960s to the 1990s.
- Malani Fonseka: often called the queen of Sinhala cinema, on screen since the late 1960s.
- Joe Abeywickrama: one of the great character actors of Sinhala cinema.
- Swarna Mallawarachchi: the star of the 1970s and 1980s, from realist dramas to popular hits.
- Jacqueline Fernandez: Miss Universe Sri Lanka in 2006, now a Bollywood star.
Where to watch
In Colombo, the new films play at the cinemas of One Galle Face, Colombo City Centre, Havelock City Mall and the restored Arcade at Independence Square. Sri Lankan classics are best found at festival screenings and cultural centres in the city.
Our advice: watch Rekava before you travel, then drive up to Kitulgala, where the river that played the Kwai still runs through the forest.
One Galle Face Colombo City Centre
Hidden on the silver screen: international productions filmed in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s rivers, gorges and lakes have stood in for Burma, India and more.
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Kitulgala: David Lean built his bridge over the Kelani River, and the Mount Lavinia Hotel played the hospital.
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), near Kandy: the rope-bridge scene began on a gorge below the Victoria Dam.
- Water (2005), Bolgoda Lake: Deepa Mehta recreated the ghats of Varanasi for her Oscar-nominated film.
Sri Lanka and the world
The island has inspired as many film-makers as it has produced. Arthur C. Clarke, co-writer of 2001: A Space Odyssey, made Sri Lanka his home from 1956 until his death in Colombo in 2008; Deepa Mehta recreated Varanasi on Bolgoda Lake for Water, nominated for the Oscar; and Jacqueline Fernandez carries Sri Lankan glamour to Bollywood.
Questions and answers
What was the first Sinhala film?
Kadawunu Poronduwa, the first Sinhala talkie, first shown in January 1947.
Was The Bridge on the River Kwai filmed in Sri Lanka?
Yes. The bridge was built over the Kelani River at Kitulgala, and the Mount Lavinia Hotel played the military hospital. Only the bridge’s concrete foundations remain.
Join the conversation
Which Sri Lankan film or star do you love most? Share your favourite scenes and the films we should add.
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Sources: the Festival de Cannes, the International Film Festival of India, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Sri Lankan press archives (Daily Mirror, Sunday Times), checked on 6 November 2026. The trailers are from Sony Pictures’, Paramount’s and Hamilton-Mehta Productions’ official channels.