Film Directors Guild discusses issues with President

With the aim to find immediate solutions to the problems faced by the Sri Lankan cinema industry, the Film Directors Guild of Sri Lanka met President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday, February 20 at the President’s Secretariat in Colombo.

The Guild informed President that there is a drop in the number of patrons to the cinemas due to a number of reasons including the newly imposed value-added tax of 18% on the cinema industry, the increase in the ticket prices of the cinemas. The Guild has requested President to abolish the entertainment tax of 7.5% levied on the price of the cinema ticket, the advantage of reducing the electricity bill of the cinema by treating it in the industrial category to lower the ticket prices, enforcing the draft of the ‘Film Regulatory Board’ which has been amended several times and implement the free film distribution system, and establishing the Sri Lankan Local cinema as a national industry in this country were discussed.

Along with the President, Minister of State for Finance Dr. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Mahinda Siriwardena, Secretary to the Ministry of Media Anusha Palpita, President of the National Film Corporation Deepal Chandraratne participated in this meeting. Representing the Film Directors Guild of Sri Lanka included Executive Committee Member and MP Dr. Sarath Weerasekera, Secretary of the Guild Dr. Senesh Dissanaike Bandara, Vice President Suranga de Alwis, Treasurer Sudesh Wasantha Peiris, and Chief Organizer Suneth Malinga Lokuhewa,

The purpose of this discussion was to get the government’s attention to the local cinema, which is an industry that depends on independent investors which is not a burden to the government, and to request to establish Sri Lankan local cinema as a national industry in the country to maintain the sustainability of its employment and their dependents of over 15000, Film Directors Guild stated.