International recognition as Malani Fonseka completes 50 years in acting

Sri Lankan Screen Queen Dr. Malani Fonseka’s 50-year contribution to cinema as an actress has been recognized by the international film community. Consequent to this recognition, Asia Pacific Screen Awards Academy (APSA) based in Brisbane, Australia has invited her to take part as a jury member for Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2013.

The jury sittings will start on December 2. As an honour to her, APSA has decided to screen “Flowers of the Sky” (Akasa Kusum) directed by Prasanna Vithanage which won her the Silver Peacock Award for Best Actress at the 39th International Film Festival of India in 2008 and at the Levante International Film Festival in Italy in 2009. The film will be screened at Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane on December 1.

Asia Pacific Screen Awards established in 2007 with the aim of recognizing and promoting the cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the vast Asia Pacific Region and hosting an annual Awards ceremony each year. The Asia Pacific Screen Academy was established in 2008 and brings together 500 of the region’s most respected names in film. This influential alumni of filmmakers grows by around 100 each year with the induction of APSA nominees, international jury and nomination council members.

Covering one third of the Earth, the 70 countries of Asia Pacific stretch from Egypt in the west to the Cook Islands in the east from Russia in the north to New Zealand in the south. They are home to 4.5 billion people and produce half of the world’s films. APSA has its headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland and is an initiative of the Brisbane City Council.

Each year Australian $ 140,000 in development funding is provided to the region’s filmmakers through APSA. The APSA Academy Film Fund was established in 2010 and APSA Children Film Fund was created in 2011.