Elaine Martyn, Director of Development, Refugees International
A leader in building philanthropic constituencies in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia, Elaine has raised over $40 million for medical research and healthcare projects in the United Kingdom, Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the United States. A second-generation Sri Lankan-American, she is a supporter of women’s rights, immigrant communities, and has also been involved with fundraising for orphans in the developing world.
Prasanna Vithanage, Award-winning Sri Lankan Director and Producer
With his first film, “Sisila Gini Gani,” garnering nine OCIC awards in 1992, Prasanna has been recognized as a major force in Sri Lankan cinema. His work provides a lens through which to access society, and has dealt with themes of war, crisis, and immigration, among others.
Samuel Holt, KIFF Co-Founder and Director
Sam first traveled to Sri Lanka at the age of 4 and spent several years of his childhood living in Kandy. In 2003, he shot his first feature documentary “HaroHara: Pilgrimage to Kataragama, Sri Lanka,” a film profiling a band of pilgrims traveling down the East Coast of Sri Lanka to attend the Esala Festival at Kataragama. He continues to work on documentary projects throughout the island including the recently completed “Okanda,” a short film about the water cutting ceremony at Okanda (2011) in South East Sri Lanka. Sam also received a Masters in Anthropology from the New School for Social Research in New York (2010).
Ethan Higbee, KIFF Co-Founder
Ethan Higbee is an American Filmmaker and Music Producer working in Los Angeles. His latest feature film, “The Upsetter,” will be released to audiences world wide in January of 2011. The film is narrated by Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro and has has premiered at over 30 festivals world wide. He is a graduate of the Kandbar Institute of Film & Television at New York University’s Tisch School of The Arts.
Suba Sivakumaran, KIFF Co-Founder
Suba Sivakumaran has assisted on Sri Lankan film productions and on film related work in New York, USA, as part of the Digital Film Academy. She has previously worked in the field of education in Sri Lanka, investment banking in London and currently works as a researcher in the field of microfinance, business and development for the United Nations Development Programme. Suba is a graduate of the London School of Economics and of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.