Signis Awards (Sri Lanka)

Signis Awards (Sri Lanka)

The SIGNIS Awards - Srilanka, formerly known as the OCIC Awards, are presented annually by SIGNIS, the Roman Catholic lay movement for communication media professionals, to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is among the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremonies in Sri Lanka.Prasanna Vithanage, winner of the SIGNIS Sri Lanka Gold Award (2007) for film directing, considers OCIC, a SIGNIS predecessor, the breeding ground for many current Sri Lankan directors today. Vithanage, said in an interview that during his schoolboy days, he and a group of friends enjoyed watching and reviewing films at a mini-theater OCIC organized in Colombo. Those experiences provided what he called the "inspiration" for him and many other young directors in the industry today. "The SIGNIS award is significant," he continued, "because the jury is comprised of (cinema and television) industry veterans. Further, it is independent and looks at cinema and television as means of communication. Over the years, its appreciation of cinema and television has helped filmmakers to achieve excellence."

The SIGNIS Sri Lanka Awards for films and television serials have are similar to the Academy Awards in the United States. They recognize achievements in various categories such as directing, editing, musical scoring, camerawork and lighting. The awards ceremony, also like its Hollywood counterpart, has become a gala event that attracts film and television stars, directors, cameramen, scriptwriters, critics and journalists. The award presentations are interspersed with dance and music performances by leading artists and clips from award-winning movies and TV programs. Amid glitter and flashbulbs in august 2007 at Colombo's Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, dancers jumped in the air to the quickening beats of drums on stage, while girls ushered the 400 guests to their seats.

Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo and veteran film director Sumithra Peiris were the guests of honor in august 2007 as the 2006 awards were given for films screened and television serials concluded during 2005. The ceremony was delayed a year until suitable sponsorship arrangements could be made.

Vithanage commented in 2007 on limited local support for the industry. "We do not have a film school in Sri Lanka even now," he pointed out, recalling how the current crop of directors got their start. "We learned everything through watching films. Many of the young directors in the industry today were groomed at the Film Review Caucus, which was started at the mini-theater by then-director Father Ernest Poruthota. Then I followed the film course, which was a practical course," he recounted.

Inspired by what he saw and learned, he directed a short film in 1980. Today, Vithanage is the winner of international film awards as well as national awards for his directing. "Four out of the five films I have directed won golden awards for film direction at the SIGNIS awards," he said.

Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, who headed SIGNIS Sri Lanka explained in 2007 that the organisation gives no cash or "popularity" award, yet its recognition remains in demand among those in the film and television industry. "Of about 15 films and 25 television serials produced (in 2005) for example, all applied (for consideration) for the award with the exception of one or two," he said.

Since 1972, SIGNIS and its predecessor OCIC organizations have contributed much to local films and television, agreed Deepthi Fonseka, consulting editor of Sarasaviya, a newspaper that follows the industry. "SIGNIS (Sri Lanka) is one of the award ceremonies appreciated by the industry," she underlined. "The Catholic Church has made a significant contribution to audiovisual communication over the years. It has helped raise standards in the industry."

Aside from the industry awards, SIGNIS Sri Lanka also recognizes individual contributions to local cinema and television through its SIGNIS Homage and SIGNIS Special Salutation lifetime awards. SIGNIS Sri Lanka is one of 16 Asian units of the worldwide association of SIGNIS, which general secretariat is established in Brussels. In fact the organisation is build out of the merger of OCIC and Unda in november 2001. OCIC was the international organisation for cinema and Unda was the Internationalt organisation for radio and television. Both organisation were founded in 1928. In september 2012 the 36th SIGNIS Salutation Ceremony was held in Colombo. Salinda Perera's Dheewari obtained major prize in the cinema section while Saman Kumara Liyanage's 'Sandagiri Pawwa' got most of the key tele drama prizes. CIC Agri Businesses' advert created to communicate its corporate values won the TV commercial in for creative arts, television and cinema for 2012. The commercial, created by the ad agency Triad (Pvt) Ltd., beat competition, with the jury citing that 'the commercial fulfills the brand's service objectives well within the boundaries of creative media, whilst portraying the brand's social values in a most respectful way to its target audience'. The Jury panel included Rev. Fr. Benedict Joseph (Chairman of Signis), Senior Journalist Kala Keerthi Edwin Ariyadasa and Senior Media Spokesperson Aruna Lokuliyana.