A Pakistani-Sri Lankan collaboration secured two major awards at the Second Jalgaon International Film Festival in India, highlighting the shared struggles and creative spirit of the region.
By Pragyan Srivastava / Sapan News
LUCKNOW, India: Underscoring the enduring power of storytelling to transcend national boundaries, a documentary filmed at a remote village in Sri Lanka and the capital Colombo, recently won two awards in India at the Second Jalgaon International Film Festival.
The film, Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines bagged two major awards at the ceremony held at the Maulana Azad Research Center in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar – formerly Aurangabad – a district in Maharashtra.
Produced by Sapan News founder and chief editor Beena Sarwar in collaboration with the activist group Southasia Peace Action Network in 2024, the film was supported by the Pulitzer Center, U.S.A, and facilitated by the Colombo-based thinktank Factum.
The 25-minute documentary foregrounds the voices of farmers and teachers in Dutuwewa village in North-Central Province, juxtaposed with the views of policymakers in Colombo, including the then Prime Minister Dinesh Gurnawardene. It explores the implications of the country’s 2022 economic collapse, relevant beyond the island nation.
A cross-border achievement
The documentary is a significant Pakistani-Sri Lankan collaboration, involving the award-winning Sri Lankan historian, art historian and filmmaker Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, who also co-wrote and co-directed it, alongside researcher Uditha Devapriya.
Since its premiere in Colombo in July 2024, ‘Democracy in Debt’ has reached audiences at more than 80 community-led screenings in 25 countries around the globe, often followed by spirited discussions.
The film has been shown at major international venues, including Emerson College and the Cambridge Public Library in the Boston area where Beena Sarwar is based, to the Dishari Public Library in the Bay Area, besides academic institutions from Cornell University and SUNY Buffalo in the U.S. to Gifu Women’s University in Japan.
In Southasia, screenings in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Jaipur, Delhi, Dhaka, and Kathmandu. have amplified the film’s impact.
Mirza Dawood Azad, a local social, educational, and political activist in Aurangabad, accepted the trophies and certificates at the Jalgaon International Film Festival on behalf of the filmmaking team. In a traditional gesture of honour, the winners were also presented with a Maharashtra pagri (turban).
In another example of Southasian solidarity, prominent educationist Naseem Rahim in Aurangabad has sent the awards to the producer in the U.S. through her sister who was visiting from New Jersey.
The award ceremony also highlighted the challenges facing regional artists. Many representatives were unable to attend the event in person due to visa restrictions.
“It was great to see that people from Sri Lanka and other places were already recognising this film,” Mirza told Sapan News in a phone conversation. “If we have a more visa-friendly, soft-border world, this will only encourage the artist collaborators and people to meet each other and enhance their abilities.”
The Sinhala version of ‘Democracy in Debt’ will be screened at the World Press Photo Exhibition in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on 14 March. The Pratibha Media Network showed the film at a media literacy club in Athureliya village on the southern coast last August. The television channel Supreme TV in Colombo also broadcast the film at that time.
The film continues to serve as a tool for dialogue. Organizations interested in hosting a community screening can register their interest via the official online form.
Sapan News associate editor Pragyan Srivastava is an Indian journalist and former Fulbright-Nehru Master’s scholar at Rutgers University. With extensive experience in digital storytelling, social media, and television production, she is passionate about creating authentic and powerful stories about Southasia. Email: pragyan@sapannews.com
Lead Image: Left to right: Mirza Dawood Azad receiving the awards on behalf of the filmmaking team, along with Shoeb Shah, Organising Secretary of Muslim Youth Forum | The trophies for Best Social Film – Outstanding Achievement and Best Screenplay awards. Photo via: Mirza Dawood Azad
This is a Sapan News syndicated feature available for republication with due credit https://www.sapannews.com.
Note on Southasia as one word: We use ‘Southasia’ as one word, “seeking to restore some of the historical unity of our common living space, without wishing any violence on the existing nation states” – Himal Southasian
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