தாயகம் (thayakam / motherland)

This documentary follows Edison Marynathan, an environmentalist travelling through Sri Lanka's arid, heavily militarised North. The film chronicles the everyday struggles of Tamil-speaking 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 a green transition can bring genuine climate justice to a region still locked out of primary policy decisions and suffering from historical, systemic marginalisation.

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
Film: 17:00
Conversation and Q&A: 18:30 to 19:45
Foyer open until 21:00

The film is in Tamil with English subtitles; the conversation will be in English.

Entry is free. Registration is only to help us plan for attendance; nothing will be checked at the door.

The event is organized by Suwi Narasingamoorthy and Lakshmi Thevasagayam and hosted by Spore Initiative.

Image: Helene Leuzinger