Documentary on Sri Lanka’s economic crisis to receive two awards at Indian film festival

The acclaimed Pulitzer Center-supported documentary ‘Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines’ will receive two awards at the Second Jalgaon International Film Festival in India this year, for ‘Best Social Film’ and ‘Best Screenplay’, reports a press release.

Produced by Boston-based Pakistani journalist and filmmaker Beena Sarwar in collaboration with a Sri Lankan team including historian and filmmaker Sinha Raja Tammita Delgoda and researcher Uditha Devapriya, the film had a private premiere at the Barberyn Ayurveda resort in Weligama, south Sri Lanka, before premiering at a cinema in Colombo, hosted by Factum International, in July 2024, attended by ambassadors, political figures, journalists, academics, cultural figures and retired army officials.

The film, co-directed and co-scripted by Beena Sarwar and SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, who was also on board as a special consultant and conceptualised the project, is relevant beyond Sri Lanka.

It has so far been screened at more than 80 screenings in some 25 countries in five continents, including in the US at Emerson College, Boston; Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge MA; Cornell University; SUNY Buffalo.

The documentary, relevant beyond Sri Lanka, has since been screened at more than 80 screenings in some 25 countries in five continents, including in the US at Emerson College, Boston; Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge MA; Cornell University; SUNY Buffalo.

The film has also been screened at various other venues in South Asia, including Karachi, Lahore, Jaipur, New Delhi, Hyderabad (India) Dhaka, and Kathmandu.

This is the first film made under the auspices of the Southasia Peace Action Network (southasiapeace.com) and Sapan News (sapannews.com), a syndicated features service, two related initiatives launched on a voluntary basis in March and August 2021 respectively, that Sarwar spearheads.

The Jalgaon International Film Festival received more than 2,500 films this year from 75 countries. “Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines” is among the 250 being awarded by a jury comprising professionals from India, Iran, Egypt, Portugal and the Netherlands.

Winners at the awards and entertainment ceremony on Sunday, 1 March will be presented with a trophy, certificate, and a Maharashtra pagri (turban).

Mirza Dawood Azad, a local social, educational and political activist, will accept the awards on behalf of the ‘Democracy in Debt’ team.

The event will take place at the Abdul Kalam Azad Research Centre in the historic town of Aurangabad, Maharashtra, gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Ajanta and Ellora, famous for their ancient Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain rock-cut architecture.

Source: Prothom Alo

--Agencies