thayakam (தாயகம் / motherland)

This documentary film follows Edison Marynathan, an environmentalist travelling through Sri Lanka's arid, post-war North. The film chronicles the everyday struggles of working-class Tamil farming and fishing communities facing intense heatwaves, unpredictable rainfall, and failing marine ecosystems. The narrative explores how the scars of a 26-year ethnic conflict intersect directly with an escalating climate crisis. Ultimately, the documentary questions whether resource-heavy green initiatives can bring genuine climate justice to a region still locked out of primary policy decisions and suffering from historical, systemic neglect. 

Conceived as a visual ethnography, thayakam exists both as a documentary and as a travelling exhibition, and was shown in Colombo, Mannar and Jaffna during 2026.

The film screening will be followed by a short break and a discussion between the director of the film and the moderator of the evening, சிந்துஜன் வரதராஜா (Sinthujan Varatharajah). After the conversation, we will open the space for questions.

Doors: 16:30

Screening and talk: 17:00