Chief Guest and Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama will deliver the second annual ‘Lester James Peries Oration’ on June 19 at the Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi Mandhiraya auditorium in Colombo 05. The topic of this year’s oration is "Lester James Peries: In Defense of Humanistic Cinema"

Guest of Honour on the occasion will be Prof. Phang Lai Tee, Senior Assistant Director, Audio Visual Archives of the National Archives of Singapore who will speak on "A National Archives: Importance of Audiovisual Archiving Embraces Films and Beyond". Commercial Credit PLC has come on board this year as Platinum Sponsor of the Foundation’s activities during 2012/13.

Revered as one of the  Asian greats, Lester James Peries has won continuous international acclaim in several parts of the world. With 50 productive years, 20 full length feature films, tele-serials, countless retrospectives around the world, bouquets and brickbats, national and international honours, Lester James Peries takes it all in his stride. They all rest on his slight frame with ease.

The accolades poured in, ever since Sumitra Peries’ directorial debut ‘Gehenu Lamai’ stormed the cinematic world in 1978, winning rave reviews and great international acclaim. She is renowned as a film maker with a keen aesthetic sensibility and sensitivity which portray the feminine condition.

The inaugural Oration was held last year, at the launch of the "Lester James Peries & Sumitra Peries Foundation” and was delivered by Prof. Wimal Dissanayake with celebrated Indian film maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan as Guest of Honour.

The “Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation” is an Approved Charity and is incorporated by an Act of Parliament. Its Trustees are Dr. Lester James Peries, Mrs. Sumitra Peries, Mrs. Gayathri Mustachi, Mr. Yadamini Gunawardena and Mr. Kumar de Silva