Somaratne Dissanayake
Somaratne Dissanayake is a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter and producer. He is the Chairman of ITN Sri Lanka and the president of the Film Makers Guild of Sri Lanka (FMG). He won the Peace prize of Chicago International Children's Film Festival and bronze award for Independent Theatrical Feature Films at Worldfest Houston for his debut film, "Saroja" (2000). In 2007, he received Presidential award for directing "Samanala Thatu" (2006). Biography. Somaratne abandoned his life in Australia to pursue a career in film. He started the stage play, "Mee Pura Wesio" in 1984 and then a television  drama, "Iti Pahan" in mid 1990s. He did not come to the cinema at once. He studied cinema for another 10 years. He earned his MA in performing arts from the University of Sydney, Australia. He also obtained his PhD in cinema from the University of Colombo. He made his debut in the Sinhala film in 2000 with a controversial but blockbuster film "Saroja". In 2002, he produced his second directorial venture, "Punchi Suranganavi", followed by "Sooriya Arana" in 2004 and "Samanala Thatu" in 2005. his next film was released in 2008, "Siri Raja Siri". He then directed and screened  the film "Bindu" in 2009. His next film "Siri Parakum" was released in 2013 and was a huge success. In 2016, Dissanayake directed and screened the film "Sarigama" which was a part of the world famous film "The Sound of Music". In 2017, he made another film called "Underpants Thief" or "Jungi Hora" but it has not been screened yet. The screening of his latest film, "Tsunami", began in 2020. All these films have been well-received, and almost every film has been a record success. He is married to producer and television host Renuka Balasuriya. In January 2015, he  was appointed as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), only to resign later that year in August, due to personal reasons.