Browsing by Author "Ruwanpathirana, Ileka"

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Community Film Making and innovative direction of rural art (An ethnographic study on a Sri Lankan community film 'Walapane Satana')
(Journal of Archaeology, Tourism & Anthropology, 2020) Lokuliyana, Aruna; Ruwanpathirana, Ileka
'Community film' is an attractive new term that has been emerged over the past few years. Though Sri Lankans are familiar with 'Community radio', the phrase 'Community film' is still a novel idea. But, it has been recognized by the world that community filmmaking is a broad concept that can be understood and produced in different ways, such as participatory community filmmaking and non-participatory community filmmaking. This study focuses on 'participatory community filmmaking' and tries to understand how it works, why it is made, what the benefits are, and how we can use it as a tool to achieve something positive. Under the qualitative research approach, an ethnographic study was performed. Films have been classified under various criteria, and it helps to understand what type of film it is. Primary and secondary data were collected. Preliminary data was collected through participatory observation and interview methods. Since the film, 'Walapane Satana' was the only film found from Sri Lanka and easily fit into the criteria to call it a community film, it was used for the study. The research revealed a solid sociocultural background behind the making of this film. This particular community film has influenced the development of the place and individuals of this village in many ways. Almost all the villagers have participated in this film to attend and make, teach, learn, present, promote, judge, support, and span many artistic disciplines. Most importantly, some people have given up their lifelong bad habits to become a part of this film, and at the end of the film, they have entirely dumped those habits and have started effectively leading their lives. Furthermore, being a part of this film has added value to their lives, and it has empowered and educated them to become worthy citizens. These findings led the researcher to conclude the study with a strong opinion on community filmmaking as a powerful driver for social change.
An Empirical Study on Film Marketing Practice in Sri Lanka
(Staff Development Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2020) Ruwanpathirana, Ileka
Film is an art form which is basically to entertain people through visual storytelling. On the other hand, it is a business which has been a huge revenue driver in the entertainment industry. However, not all films achieve box office success with high profit margins. Success of a film depends on various functions and Film Marketing is one of them. There is also a need to focus on marketing in all the stages of a film’s life. Despite the very high number of Sri Lankan film halls, audience and film sales are very low. Moreover, it has been proven by researches that a majority of Sri Lankan film audiences prefer to consume foreign films including Hollywood, Bollywood and Kollywood films instead of Sri Lankan films. However, a cinema without an audience does not make any sense. This research study mainly examines the contemporary situation of film marketing practice in Sri Lanka. The need for a thorough investigation into the film marketing phenomenon was particularly evident from the literature review and exploratory research undertaken, as it showed that there are significant research gaps like methodological gap and practical gap. In response to these gaps, the research was performed based on qualitative strategy under deductive research approach. Primary data were gathered using in depth interviews with the key stakeholders of film industry. Sample was selected according to purposive and judgmental sampling technique and collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis method. In order to take particular account of the nature of film marketing practice in Sri Lanka, it combines the insights from contemporary production and consumption practice in the film industry with theoretical perspectives from Communication, Marketing, Film Marketing, Branding, Public Relations and Film Studies. Based on the data gathered from exploratory research and literature review, it was proven that though world’s most lucrative film industries have provided interesting case studies for Film Marketing, many Sri Lankans even those within the film industry, have no idea about the bigger picture of Film Marketing.