BAW JAYAMANNE

The Pioneer Filmmaker

The 54th death anniversary of Bernard Aloysius Wanniarachchi Jayamanne, better known as B.A.W. Jayamanne who played a pioneering role in the Sinhala cinema’s formative era, falls on February 16. BAW who formed the Minerva Drama Troupe which eventually led to the making of a series of films including the first Sinhala movie ‘Kadawunu Poronduwa’, died on February 16 in 1965 on the sets of his last movie ‘Magul Poruwa’. BAW introduced stars like Stanley Perera, Gemini Kantha, Rita Ratnayake, Aruna Shanthi, Senadheera Kuruppu, Herbert M. Seneviratne, Prem Jayanth and Florida Jayalath to the Sinhala cinema.