Chinthana Dharmadasa is a Sri Lankan writer, film director, film critic and a screenwriter who is currently working in the advertising industry.
Education
Chinthana graduated from the University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Philosophy and began his career as a media officer and worked in several government institutions. Later he studied film-making under Prasanna Vithanage and made his first short film "Afterwards, he fell sleep".
Career
He worked for several periodicals as a writer and directed several short films, music videos, co-directed a feature film and is popularly known as an opinionated blogger and a critic. Shortly he moved into print media as a writer and a critic through publications such as the Ravaya weekly journal. This film was selected into the best category in shorts 2005 film festival, organized by the National Film Corporation, Sri Lanka.
With this selection, Chinthana received a one year film training scholarship at the National Institute for Film, Television and Theatre in Poland popularly known as the Lodz Film School.
As a script writer, Chithana collaborated with Boodee Keerthisena"s upcoming film, "Alone in a valley". and Sanjeewa Pushpakumara"s debut film "Flying Fish". He is also the scriptwriter of Udaya Dharmawardhana"s upcoming French feature film "Miles of a dream".
His articles are published weekly in the "Randiva" national newspaper under the title of his blog Cult. The book "Cult: Bibili Nangina Belikatu" was published in 2012 which includes a collection of his articles published on the blog.
Chinthana is a song writer, and a novelist whose stories are published weekly in a national paper.
Chinthana hosted several film programs at a local television stations Sirasa television – Art Eka, Siyatha TVSwaroopana, and Hiru TVCult Eka. Chinthana adopted an alternative screening method for his debut How I Wonder What You Are which targeted small audiences in different locations. Screenings were organized by various groups that were passionate towards the film.
He then introduced this format of screenings as a platform for other indie filmmakers and film lovers to meet informally and share their thoughts and concepts and co-founded "Kolamba Talkies".
Chinthana counts 5 years of experience in the advertising industry as a sinhala copywriter and is currently working at "Bates Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal & Strategic Alliance" as an Associate Creative Director.
Politics
Chinthana is an active blogger since 2010 and his blog CULT is a popular platform which discusses current social, political and cultural issues. He also co-authored a book on his film "How I Wonder What You Are" which was a collective of critiques and reviews received for the film.