National & International Short Films

Parallel to various performances and other activities, “Vesak 2009 – Festival” had a National and International Film Festival. Over 60 entries were received from USA, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Russia, Thailand, Japan, Greece, Spain, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Poland, India, Germany, while the national competition attracted over 140 submissions.

Sponsorship support for the Winners will be arranged by the Light of Asia Foundation to make films for the next year’s Festival. This Festival will be continued over the coming years. The organizers are hopeful that an overwhelming number of entries will be received for this film event in the year 2010, both from Sri Lanka and the Worldover.

Documentary Films and Feature Films.

An array of Feature Films and Documentary Films were screened free of charge to visitors to the Festival. The screens were located in 8 different areas within the Convention Centre with simultaneous projection of the wide range of films and the Digital Pandals depicting the “Jathaka Stories”.

Mobile Films

A novel feature of the Festival was the Film Competition using mobile phones for which entries were received from overseas as well.

An eminent panel of judges - chaired by Kalakeerthi Edwin Ariyadasa,Mr. E.M.G. Edirisinghe, Mr. Gamini Weragama, Mr. Tony Wickramasinghe was responsible for making the final selection, recognizing the creative talent spread across the country and beyond, which could be enhanced in the year’s ahead.