Sumitra Peries, the first Sri Lankan female filmmaker and also the cherished wife of veteran Sri Lankan movie director Lester James Peries, has passed away this morning (Jan.

19), at the age of 88.

She had actually reportedly died while going through treatment at a personal health center in Colombo.Born in 1934, she was aged 88 years at the time of her demise.Her contribution to the development of Sinhala Cinema includes Gehenu Lamai , Ganga Addara , Yahaluvo , Maya , Sakman Maluwa and Vaishnavee .

Kala Keerthi Sumitra Peries has also worked as Sri Lankas ambassador to France, Spain and the United Nations in the late 1990s.

Sumitra started off her own cinema director launching with her very first film Gehenu Lamai , which was a box office hit and handled to bag lots of awards at the movie festivals of the time, whereas her next film Ganga addara was another box office hit.She has subsequently directed much more feature movies which have actually all undergone international acclaim.Fondly known as the Poetess of Sinhala Cinema , ended up being the first director ever to shoot with the latest Red Epic video camera in which her latest movie theater endeavor Vaishnavee was shot in 2012 and laid the foundation for the next Generation Digital Cinema for Sri Lanka.