"It was for this soil, and the ability to govern over it, that countless men and women would fight and die in a 26 year long armed struggle in Sri Lanka. Now the same land is being threatened by the climate emergency."
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The climate crisis is urgent and existential. Not only was last year the hottest on record, but carbon emissions from fossil fuels are at a record high. Small island developing nations are particularly vulnerable and Sri Lanka consistently ranks among the top ten most at-risk countries.
The Northern regions, where Thayakam is set, are climate hotspots. Inhabited primarily by the Tamil-speaking minority, they are impacted by sea-level rises, coastal inundation, salinisation, extreme heat and extreme weather events. The injustice is exacerbated by pre-existing vulnerability as these are regions where fighting during Sri Lanka’s 26-year war was heaviest.
Thayakam is a 76 minute documentary as well as a traveling exhibition; a visual ethnography examining the climate crisis alongside conflict and environmental destruction.
Writer / Director / Executive Producer
Amita Arudpragasam is a bilingual Tamil based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is an Open Society Fellow (2025-26) and a Pulitzer Center Grantee. She is originally from Jaffna, one of the four districts identified by the World Bank as a climate hotspot in Sri Lanka. Amita completed her AB in English Literature at Princeton University and a Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has years of professional experience including as an long-form editor, public policy analyst and writer. Amita runs an educational non-profit that teaches Tamil to English speakers. She tweets at @aarudpra and selected writing and interviews can be found at aarudpra.com. This is Amita’s first feature documentary.
Cinematographer
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Rishi Selvam is based in Jaffna and specializes in crafting visually compelling narratives for corporate and cinematic projects. His debut feature — Munnel (2023) — received the Jury Tiger Award at IFFR 2023. He has produced documentaries for the International Labour Organisation, UNDP, Extreme Lives, Mas Holdings and Hameedia.
Editor
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Aathan Sivananthar is an independent filmmaker, colourist and photographer. He was the editor of the film Tentigo which was selected for First Feature competition and had its World Premier at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia. Aathan has over six years of experience in editing TV commercials and documentaries.
Music Composer
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Hania Luthufi is a Sri Lankan-born singer, composer and improvisor based in Hamburg. Her work is a woven archive of devotion to folk song, jazz, free improvisation and raga music lineages. She crafts soundscapes for films and documentaries.
Photographer
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Isaac Nico is based in Bangalore, India. As the son of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee, his practice amplifies untold narratives. Nico holds a Masters in Public Policy at the University of Michigan. A still taken for this project was selected for Pulitzer Center’s 2024: Year in Photos.
Visual Designer
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Helene Leuzinger is a Swiss-Indian visual designer based in Zurich. She designs printed matter, websites and exhibitions with great care and conceptual thinking. In every project there is an intensive engagement with content, form and context.
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