Paper Articles.

A Computer Donation through “Hadawathe Sihinaya”

Publication: Dinamina
Date: 26 September 2020
Project: Hadawathe Sihinaya – Computer Project
Organised by: Isura Wickramarachchi Foundation

This newspaper article, published in Dinamina on 26 September 2020, reported on a computer donation carried out through the “Hadawathe Sihinaya” project, an initiative supporting children in under-resourced schools with access to computer technology.

The accompanying photographs document the presentation of the computer to the school as well as the students who were present for the occasion.

For my personal archive, this article is particularly valuable as a contemporary media record of the Hadawathe Sihinaya initiative. It documents how the effort to identify schools with limited or no computer facilities and provide children with greater access to technology was also recorded in the print media at the time.

Published in Aruna newspaper on 30 July 2020, this extensive feature presents an interview with Isura Wickramarachchi, founder of Films.lk, exploring the origins and development of the website and its growing role in documenting and preserving the history of Sinhala cinema.

The headline — “It Was Through My Website That He Was Able to Prove He Was an Actor” — highlights a remarkable example of the documentary value of the cinema information accumulated within Films.lk over the years. The story illustrates how the platform had evolved beyond a conventional entertainment website into a digital cinema archive where historical information about films and artists could be traced and verified.

The interview also discusses the challenges involved in collecting information about Sinhala films, actors, actresses, directors and numerous other cinema professionals. Considerable research was required to locate older records, photographs and film information and to organise them accurately within the Films.lk database.

Another important theme of the feature is the long-term development of the project. Having begun in 2009, Films.lk had by 2020 been continuously developed for more than a decade. What started as an online cinema database had gradually grown into a substantial reference resource connecting information about different generations of Sri Lankan cinema.

Receiving an extensive feature in Aruna more than a decade after the launch of Films.lk represents an important point in the project's media history. It documents both the continuing relevance of the platform and Isura Wickramarachchi's long-term commitment to digitally documenting and preserving the history of Sinhala cinema.

Published in Lankadeepa on 8 May 2017, this newspaper report documents a community-service project carried out by the “Hadawathe” group, whose members had come together through social media. The project involved constructing and handing over a new house to a woman in need.

According to the newspaper report, the house was formally handed over with the participation of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The accompanying photographs record his presence at the occasion as well as members of the group gathered at the newly constructed house.

An important aspect of this project was the transformation of a social-media network into practical community service. Rather than limiting the group to online interaction, its members combined their support and contributions to address a genuine need in the community by helping provide a home.

For me, projects of this nature hold an important place in my social-service journey because they demonstrated how connections created through social media could be transformed into meaningful activities that directly benefited people in need.

The coverage in Lankadeepa, accompanied by prominent photographs of the event, remains an important media record in my personal archive of the community and social-service activities carried out through the “Hadawathe” group.

This newspaper feature covers the official launch of the website developed for Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda (Sumanasara) Thero. The website was designed and developed by Isura Wickramarachchi and was officially inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, D. M. Jayaratne. The project aimed to use modern web technology to make the Thero's teachings and Buddhist resources more accessible to audiences worldwide. The article highlights the significance of the website launch and recognizes Isura Wickramarachchi's contribution as the developer of the project.

“I Created the First and Only Website” – Films.lk

This Sinhala newspaper feature presents an interview with Isura Wickramarachchi about the creation and development of Films.lk, his online database dedicated to preserving and presenting information about Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema.

The article discusses how the idea for Films.lk developed from Isura's interest in cinema and his recognition of the difficulty of finding accurate and organised information about Sinhala films online. It also highlights the considerable research involved in collecting information about films, artists and the wider Sri Lankan film industry and bringing these records together within a structured digital database.

The interview presents Films.lk (www.films.lk) as a dedicated online resource covering Sinhala films from the early years of the industry through contemporary productions. The database also brought together information and photographs relating to actors, actresses, directors, producers, technicians and other professionals associated with Sri Lankan cinema.

An important theme of the interview is the challenge of preserving historical cinema information. It discusses the difficulties involved in locating older film records and photographs, as well as the effort required to verify, organise and digitally preserve information collected from different sources.

Published several years after the launch of Films.lk in 2009, this feature provides an important media record of the project's early development and Isura Wickramarachchi's continuing effort to use web technology to document and preserve the history and heritage of Sinhala cinema for future generations.

This feature interview highlights the achievements of Isura Wickramarachchi as a web designer and entrepreneur, recognizing his milestone of developing more than 300 websites. The article discusses his journey in the IT industry since 1997, the growth of isandi CREATIONS, and the wide range of web solutions delivered to clients in Sri Lanka and overseas. It also features award-winning projects such as films.lk and acknowledges his contribution to the advancement of Sri Lanka's web development industry as one of the country's emerging technology entrepreneurs.

This feature article highlights the contribution of films.lk in bringing Sri Lankan cinema into the digital era and recognizes the work of its founder, Isura Wickramarachchi. It explains how the website created a comprehensive online resource containing information on films, artists, photographs, and cinema news, making Sri Lankan film heritage more accessible to both local and international audiences. The article acknowledges films.lk as a pioneering initiative in digitally documenting and promoting Sri Lankan cinema.

This feature article highlights the remarkable contribution of films.lk to the preservation and promotion of Sri Lankan cinema. Developed by Isura Wickramarachchi, the website became one of the country's leading online cinema portals, offering a comprehensive database of Sri Lankan films, artists, songs, photographs, and cinematic history. The article recognizes films.lk as a pioneering digital platform that introduced Sri Lankan cinema to a global audience while preserving its heritage through modern web technology.

This newspaper article introduces Films.lk – Digital Identity of Sinhala Cinema as an online resource for discovering information about Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema.

According to the article, www.films.lk provided information covering Sinhala cinema from Kadavunu Poronduwa (1947), the first Sinhala talkie, through to films released in the period in which the article was published.

Beyond individual film records, the website also contained information about actors, actresses, directors and other professionals associated with the cinema industry. Films.lk was therefore developing as more than a simple film listing, bringing together information about both Sinhala films and the people who contributed to them.

The article particularly recommends the website as a useful resource for anyone conducting research or gathering information about cinema, demonstrating the value of having historical film information organised and accessible through a single online database.

Featuring Films.lk under the identity “Digital Identity of Sinhala Cinema,” this newspaper coverage is another valuable early media record of the project created by Isura Wickramarachchi. It demonstrates how Films.lk was already being recognised as a useful digital reference for those interested in researching and learning about the history of Sinhala cinema.

This newspaper report, titled “Best of the best in websites crowned,” documents an important early achievement of Films.lk at the first “Most Favourite Sri Lankan Website” competition organised by the LK Domain Registry. The awards ceremony was held at the Water’s Edge Hotel, recognising Sri Lankan websites and web-development achievements across a number of categories.

At the event, www.films.lk received the special honour for “Best Entertainment Website.” The photograph published with the article records Isura Wickramarachchi, CEO of isandi CREATIONS, receiving the award on behalf of Films.lk.

As Films.lk had been launched in 2009, receiving national recognition in the Entertainment category during the project's first year represented an important early milestone in its development.

The newspaper also lists Films.lk among the Top 20 Runners-Up in the broader competition, while separately identifying it as the winner of the Best Entertainment Website special category. The report notes that recipients of the special categories were selected by a panel of judges.

This newspaper coverage is therefore an important historical record of the early development of Films.lk, designed and developed by Isura Wickramarachchi. It documents how a project created to digitally organise and preserve information about Sinhala cinema received recognition within Sri Lanka's web industry during the very year in which it was launched.

This Daily News feature, titled “Lankan cinema on the Web,” highlights Films.lk, the Sinhala cinema database created and developed by Isura Wickramarachchi. Written by Sachitra Mahendra, the article discusses the need for a comprehensive and accurate online database dedicated to Sri Lankan cinema and presents Films.lk as an ambitious effort to preserve and organise the country's film history.

The feature explains the extensive research involved in building the database, with Isura noting that he had to search through almost all available archives to gather reliable information. At the time, Films.lk already documented Sinhala films from Kadavunu Poronduwa (1947) through to contemporary releases in 2009, presenting film information, galleries, descriptions, cast and crew details, songs and other cinema-related material.

The article also highlights the site's interactive features, which allowed visitors to submit film information and images, become fans of films, rate movies, indicate films they wanted to watch, and leave comments. It describes Films.lk as an interactive online space for cinema enthusiasts rather than simply a static film-information website.

The Daily News coverage represents an important early milestone in the history of Films.lk, documenting the project in its first year and recognising Isura Wickramarachchi's effort to build a comprehensive digital resource for Sri Lankan cinema and its historical records.

Published in Sarasaviya on 9 July 2009, this article is one of the early media records of Films.lk (www.films.lk). It introduces the website as an online resource where information and news relating to Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema could be accessed through a single digital platform.

According to the article, Films.lk provided information on Sinhala films from 1947 through to the films being screened at the time. In addition to individual film records, the website included information about actors, actresses, directors and other professionals associated with the Sri Lankan film industry.

The feature also notes that visitors could find information about released films, upcoming films and cinemas through the website. Registered users were able to make further use of the facilities provided by the platform.

Published in 2009, the same year Films.lk was launched, this Sarasaviya article is an important early record of the project. It documents how the initiative to systematically collect, organise and make information about Sinhala cinema available through the internet was already gaining recognition within Sri Lanka's cinema media during its earliest stage.