Sri Lankan Tamil cinema

Tamils contributed significantly to Sinhala cinema as well as Indian Tamil cinema. The earliest ever Tamil films were mostly destroyed or unrecovered during wartime. The first known Sinhalese film dubbed in Tamil was released on 29 December 1951.^[1] The Sri Lankan Tamil film Samuthayam (transl. Society), an adaptation of C.N. Annadurai’s Velaikkari, was made in 16 mm and technicolor. It was shown in 1962 and 1963. Thottakkari (Plantation Woman), released on 28 March 1962, was the first Sri Lankan Tamil film in the standard 35 mm format. It included speeches by trade unionists S. Thondaman and Azeez and was directed by Krishnakumar, who also played the film's male lead.^[1]

Government-instituted development and individual achievement (1971–1979); unprecedented surge in yearly admissions In 1971, a socialist government that sought to overcome the dominance of screen time in Sri Lanka by Tamil and Hindi films came to power in the country. Foreign film dominance had resulted in domestically produced films being relegated to 20% of the screen time while foreign films occupied 80% (60% Tamil, 10% Hindi, 10% English). The government that won power had promised to redress this imbalance. It established the State Film Corporation by Act No. 47 of 1971, charged with the promotion of national film and giving and making available a wide variety of films to the public.

The State Film Corporation (SFC) established a unique credit scheme for film production. Loans were given on the basis of a script evaluation, and those taking part with credit were given on the collateral of the negatives. This was at a time when bank lending was very conventional and such a 'collateral' was unheard of in the banking industry. The directors and main technicians had to have prior training to obtain loans via a system of registration. Prior to these measures, films produced domestically were transliterations of Tamil and Hindi films, to the extent that there was no credit for screenplay. The only credit was for dialogues, as the "screenplay" was a transliteration of the Hindi or Tamil original. The credit scheme ensured original screenwriting for the first time, and stories that were copies of Hindi and Tamil were not entitled to receive loans. Thus, a professional film production industry was established.

As a rebirth of Sri Lankan Tamil cinema, the comedy/thriller movie Komaali Kings was announced on 23 January 2016. The team says, "‘Komaali Kings’ is an attempt to rekindle and re-establish nostalgic memories of the hay days of Sri Lankan Tamil cinema."

The filmography of the Sri Lankan Tamil cinema is as follows.

• B. H. Abdul Hameed
• K. S. Balachandran

• Sinhala Cinema
• Sri Lankan Tamils in Sinhala Cinema
• Sri Lankan Tamils in Indian cinema
• Tamil cinema
• South Asian cinema
• Cinema of the world