Priyantha Colombage

Priyantha Colombage
Born1966 (1966)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
OccupationsFilm director, screenwriter, producer
Years active1998 - present

Priyantha Colombage (born in 1966) is a Sri Lankan film director and screenwriter who works primarily in Sinhala cinema. He is best known for his directorial debut Dehena (Trance) in 1998 & Dehena won the highest number of awards for Sri Lanka and represented the country at the Tokyo International Film Festival. His second film Vimukthi (Salvation) was the unanimous choice of local film critics to represent Sri Lanka at the Kerala, Milwelly and Cairo International Film Festivals.

Career

Born in Colombo, Colombage started out as a journalist and photographer for the Sinhalese newspaper Ravaya.

A keen eye for storytelling led to his directorial debut Dehena (Trance), with which he became the youngest film director in the country at the age of nineteen. In 1998, Dehena won the highest number of co-awards for Sri Lanka and represented Sri Lanka at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

His second film Vimukthi (Salvation) was the unanimous choice of local film critics to represent Sri Lanka at the Kerala, Milwelly and Cairo International Film Festivals. Arumosam Vehi (Fancy Rains), the third production, was financed by the National Film Corporation and went on to win the award for excellence at the 2007 China International Children's Film Festival.

Colombage runs Creative Force, his own production house, through which he has directed a commercials for brands like Unilever, Nestle, Elephant House, Holcim Lanka, Ceylinco VIP and Lion Breweries, and also documentaries for the Sri Lanka Air Force, Eppawela Phosphate, and Holcim.

Colombage also produces TV programs. Kekulu Yaya a 65 episode educational programme for children. Yarns Bar, a comedy show, in addition to Deyyange Horawa, Aluth Sithuwam, Surf X-Force and the political satire muppet show Jabos Lane as well as a number of teledramas. He produced, wrote and directed the Sakuge Kathawa teledrama which aired on Swarnavahini.

Filmography

Year Film Director Producer writer Notes
1998DehenaYesNoYesBecoming the youngest film director in Sri Lankan Cinema
won the highest number of co-awards for Sri Lanka and represented Sri Lanka at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Best Photography – Presidential Awards
1998VimukthiYesNoYesVimukthi was the unanimous choice of local film critiques to represent Sri Lanka at the Kerala, Milwelly and Cairo International Film Festivals.
Best Photography – Critics Awards
2003Arumosam WahiYesNoYesThe Best Movie – 9th China International Children's Film Festival in Ningbo, China 2007
Presidential Award
2016Adaraneeya KathawakYesYesYes
2017Dedunu AkaseYesYesYes
2024MandaraYesNoYes
2024 Suriya Sulanga

Yes Yes Yes Upcoming (In post-production)

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Priyantha: ambitious young film maker". Sunday Times. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  2. ↑ "සිංහල සිනමාවට යළි ආදරය රැගෙන ආදරණීය කතාවක් 10 වැනිදා සිට". Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "DEDUNU AKASE-Official Movie Trailer(2017)". YouTube.
  4. ↑ "සූරිය සුළඟ හමයි". තරුණී. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  5. ↑ "සූරිය සුළඟ - ප්‍රියන්ත කොළඹගේ අධ්‍යක්ෂණය කරන හත්වන සිනමාපටය". Cinema.lk. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  6. ↑ "'Suriya Sulanga' Film: Muhurath Ceremony". Gossip Lanka News. Retrieved 10 August 2024.