Dinara Punchihewa is a film and theatre actress. She made her cinematic debut in Gaadi – Children of the Sun, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival and was featured in ‘100 Asian films not to be missed for 2019’. Her film Peacock Lament won the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 35th Tokyo International Film Festival (2022). Her most recent film project is the lead in The Ashen Cloud, directed by Rukmal Nirosh. When Dinara is not filming, she conducts performing art workshops for young children through a non-profit named ‘Punchi Actors’ together with a few like-minded volunteers. She was featured in Forbes‘ 30 Under 30 list (2024).