Japanese Ambassador Akio Isomata visited the Pathfinder Foundation headquarters at River Point in Peliyagoda at the invitation of Milinda Moragoda, the Founder of the Pathfinder Foundation. After receiving a briefing on the relationship the Foundation has developed with Japan over the two decades, Moragoda briefed the Ambassador on the special relationship between Japan and Sri Lanka since Sri Lanka’s independence in 1944, the high esteem with which Sri Lankans regard Japan and its people, and the vital role Japan has played in Sri Lankan development projects over the last several decades.  Moragoda expressed that Japan will demonstrate its continued interest in the developments in the Indian Ocean by participating in the conference at a high level.

The Ambassador was also briefed on Japan’s role in the Foundation’s work that led to the ‘Trincomalee Consultations’ held in 2017 and 2019. He highlighted that the next round of the Indian Ocean Security Conference, scheduled for Spring 2026.

Ambassador Isomata was assisted by Shinichi Murata, the First Secretary and Head of the Political Section of the Embassy. The Pathfinder team comprised Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairperson of the Foundation; A. A. Jawad, Director; and Gayathri Nanayakkara, Manager (Programmes).

As part of the visit, the Ambassador and his delegation, together with senior members from the Pathfinder Foundation, boarded the Foundation’s river boat ‘Mahanaga’ and sailed to the Kelaniya Rajamaha Viharaya.

Amnesty International South Asia has raised concerns over the detention of 22-year-old Mohamad Rusdi on 22 March 2025 in Colombo.Issuing a statement, Amnesty International South Asia said Rusdi has been detained for 90 days under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Amnesty International South Asia has expressed disappointment in the use of the PTA by authorities under Sri Lanka’s new leadership.

Amnesty International South Asia points out that two weeks since the arrest, Sri Lankan authorities have been unable to furnish any evidence of criminal wrongdoing legitimising Rusdi’s arrest or continued detention.

As such, the Rights group urged the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately restore Rusdi’s due process rights, and, in the absence of any credible charges or credible evidence of an internationally recognisable crime being committed, release him.

The full statement by the Amnesty International South Asia Regional Office;

Sri Lanka: @amnesty is concerned by the arrest of 22-year-old Mohamad Rusdi on 22 March 2025 in Colombo. Amnesty International has seen a copy of the Detention Order, signed off by the Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, on 25 March, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence, ordering the detention of Rusdi for a period of ninety days, issued under the powers vested in him through the notorious anti-terror law, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). We are disappointed to see the PTA in regular use by authorities under Sri Lanka’s new leadership, despite the government’s pledges that it would repeal this draconian law.

According to the Detention Order, Rusdi is detained under the suspicion that he is connected with or concerned in unlawful activity with regards to “associating with members of extremist or terrorist organisations, motivated by extremist ideologies and acting in a manner detrimental to peace and harmony among communities and knowingly concealing such information from security forces.” Two weeks since the arrest, Sri Lankan authorities have been unable to furnish any evidence of criminal wrongdoing legitimising his arrest or continued detention.

The Sri Lankan authorities must immediately restore Rusdi’s due process rights, including ensuring that he has unfettered access to his family and lawyers, and, in the absence of any charges of credible evidence of an internationally recognisable crime being committed, release him.

Furthermore, in order to breakaway from the authorities’ past practices of abusing the PTA for decades, the new Sri Lankan government must be resolute in its stance on the PTA and issue strict guidelines to authorities to desist from resorting to and abusing the PTA’s vast powers where there is no legitimate suspicion of a terror offence. There must be an immediate moratorium on the use of the PTA and the government should make public a timeline for its plans to do away with this abusive law. Those affected by the PTA must be provided remedies and reparations for the injustice they have suffered.

For the first time in Sri Lanka, the 4K restored version of Nidhanaya (1973) of filmmaker Lester James Peries will be screened on the opening day of “Archiving the Image: From Conservation to the Screen” – a workshop on Film Programming and Photograph & Film Conservation that will take place in Colombo from April 7 – 9, 2025, Dr Nadeera Rupesinghe, Director General National Archives said.

The screening at the auditorium of the National Archives at 6.30 pm on 7 April 2025 is open to the public free of charge. The film was restored in 4K by Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory and The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project.

This screening with English subtitles for the first time in Sri Lanka of the restored film is made possible by The Film Foundation and Cineteca di Bologna, with special thanks to the Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation and the Film Heritage Foundation of India.

Nidhanaya (The Treasure) is a Sinhala language black and white film based on a dark tale by G.B. Senanayake and is considered a milestone film, albeit it is atypical of Lester James Peries’s customary family dramas. The story revolves around a psychotic killer yet is an underlying serious political study on the degradation of a class of society. In 1972 the film won the Silver Lion of St Mark at the 33rd Venice International Film Festival and was selected as one of the outstanding films of the year, receiving a Diploma at the London Film Festival. It was also voted as the best film of the first 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema.

“Nidhanaya” was restored in 2013 by Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with The Film Foundation’s  World Cinema Project, Lester James and Sumitra Peries and was premiered at the Venice International Film Festival 2013.

This screening is especially significant as the birthday of the late Dr Lester James Peries was on 5 April, also the day the National Film, Television and Sound Archives was opened by him at the Sri Lanka National Archives in 2014.

This screening of the restored Nidhanaya and other screenings and events are a part of the Archiving the Image: From Conservation to the Screen, a Workshop on Film Programming and Photograph & Film Conservation, held in collaboration with the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, the Embassy of France in India, the Film Heritage Foundation of India, the Sri Lanka National Archives and the National Film Corporation under the France India Sri Lanka Cine Heritage (FISCH) programme.

The following are other events planned for the programme.

APRIL 8 | 06:30 pm

Kummatty

1979, The Bogeyman, Aravindan Govindan, India, Malayalam,

Colour, 90 minutes, English Subtitles

Restored in 4K by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, Film Heritage Foundation and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with General Pictures and the family of Aravindan Govindan

APRIL 9 | 05:30 pm

Talks by Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka Rémi Lambert, Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Dr Sunil Senevi and Artistic Director, Festival des 3 Continents Jérôme Baron

APRIL 9 | 06:30 pm

The Cemetery of Cinema

2023, Le Cimetière de la Pellicule, Thierno Souleymane Diallo, France, Documentary, French and Senegalese, Colour, 93 minutes, English Subtitles