Miscellany By Ranat

New release from Dr. Gunadasa A.

Not often do English readers get a chance to enjoy a Gunadasa Amarasekera classic. Just out in bookstands is ‘Death by the Pool’ – a translation of his latest collection of short stories, ‘Vil Thera Maranaya’ described as the final episode and memories of a man facing his destiny.

Gunadasa A., whom I knew from our Peradeniya days in the mid-1950s, passed out as a dental surgeon and successfully completed his post-graduate degrees in UK obtaining fellowships from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and from the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

On his return, although he was Consultant and Director of the Dental Institute, we rarely thought of this as his profession. To us he was always a poet, short story writer, a novelist, a literary critic and a committed intellectual. Recognition has come his way with a D. Litt from the Sri Jayawardenapura University and the highest literary award by the State – ‘Sahitya Ratna.’

Just as much as Gunadasa A. is a foremost literary figure in Sri Lanka, the translation has been done by a leading personality in the legal fraternity. The translator is Sunil de Silva, a distinguished lawyer and President’s Counsel who functioned as Attorney General. Now domiciled in Australia, he is the Crown Prosecutor of New South Wales.  

In a Translator’s Note, Sunil de S. introduces ‘Death by the Pool’ and mentions that the author draws on events that occurred in real life, to cleverly combine attributes and information that could apply to anyone of several contemporary figures in public life, feeding into each character a mix of background facts as to create a fictional Cabinet Minister and a fictional President. He places these actors in an imagined timeframe but uses actual names to give the reader a framework of context.

Along with ‘Death by the Pool’, Gunadasa A launched his latest Sinhala novel. Titled ‘Rupantharanaya,’ it is his 16th novel. His first, ‘Karumakkarayo’ was published in 1955.

Both are Visidunu Publications.

Film archives a reality?

Talk of a National Film Archive has been revived.

At the Lester James Peiris Oration, the LJSP Foundation trustee Yadamini Gunawardena hinted that the modalities to set up a film archive are being studied by the Government. When President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Lester on his birthday, he had said that the setting up of a film archive is being carefully studied.

“Though the necessity was there for decades, the necessary climate didn’t prevail to actually bring about it, but now we see a clear silver line on the silver screens’ long awaited need,” Yadamini said. “We have all walked 60 plus years to produce 2,000 plus cinematic work. Let us all come together, to rightfully preserve first hand work of great artistic and documentary evidence on our social imagery by establishing a national cinema archive,” he appealed.

The LSJP Foundation itself took a positive step by inviting an expert on heritage preservation and administration including audio-visual archiving from Singapore to discuss the subject with several state institutions here including the Government Film Unit and the Rupavahini Corporation. Dr. Phang Lai Tee – Senior Assistant Director of the National Archives of Singapore, who was guest of honour at the Lester Peiris Oration spoke on how audio-visual archiving has developed over the years and today’s opportunities with digital technology.

One man crusade

Talking of a film archive, it has been a lone battle for over five decades – a long time indeed. It was way back in 1957 – over half a decade ago – that Lester J.P. wrote on the need for a national film archive. “In fifty years from now, people may look back on this period as the work of the primitives, but still some of it I am certain will be of interest to the student, and indispensable to the historian and sociologist,” he wrote. “On the other hand, failure to preserve a film at least from the point of view of its historical importance can be a very saddening business.”

He stressed that even if it is assumed for a moment that there is little or nothing in the Sinhalese feature film worth preserving, documentaries and the newsreels are not so. Some of these can be priceless, he said. “Who, for instance, in a hundred years will not be moved by the scenes of the funeral of D.S. Senanayake – the father of the nation? What of the election of victory of the MEP (1956) which ushered in the first day buses were nationalised: all recorded so faithfully by the Government’s own cameramen”, he asked.

He warned that the setting up of an archive will be costly. “Vaults have to be built, films stored and preserved in the most up to date and scientific conditions. Individuals and private organisations will lack the finance or the resources for such a venture. Government aid is essential,” he pointed out.

That was 55 years ago. The picture has changed completely. The private sector has enough resources and they are conscious of corporate social responsibility.  Judging from the money spent on the construction and maintenance of a location to shoot films and tele-dramas off Hambantota, it should not be a problem for the Government to step in and take the lead in setting up a film archive.