Nidhanaya (The Treasure) – UK Premiere

Directed by Dr. Lester James Peries, widely regarded as the father of Sri Lankan cinema, and based on a short story by the prominent Sinhalese author G.B Senanayake, Nidhanaya is a chilling portrait of a crumbling aristocracy in colonial Sri Lanka through the microcosm of one man’s psychological turmoil.

Often likened to his Indian contemporary Satyajit Ray, Dr. Lester James Peries won the Silver Lion at the 1972 Venice International Film Festival for Nidhanaya which has been lauded as the best film of the first 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema and was included among the top 100 films of the century by Cinémathèque Française.

This is the first time the film is officially being screened in the UK.

The screening will be preceded by a pre-recorded introduction by guest curator Anupma Shanker.

Screening as part of our SAHM film season