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Thayakam Title

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.

Thayakam is a character-led documentary. It follows a disillusioned environmentalist as he journeys across Sri Lanka’s arid, poorly industrialised Northern province trying to understand the many environmental and climate crises plaguing his motherland. In a fragile, war-impacted region — the site of ongoing ethnic conflict — the environmentalist becomes embroiled in a struggle for life and land.

Thayakam is a 76 minute documentary as well as a traveling exhibition; a visual ethnography examining the climate crisis alongside conflict and environmental destruction.

Earth Journalism Network
Open Society Foundations
Pulitzer Center
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Exhibition view
Exhibition view

தாயகம் (thayakam / motherland) exhibition at the Harold Peiris Gallery, Colombo on the 16–18 January 2026

Film poster designed by Helene Leuzinger

designed by Helene Leuzinger

Film poster designed by Shalini Raman

designed by Shalini Raman

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Our Team

Amita Arudpragasam

Writer / Director / Executive Producer

Amita Arudpragasam is an interdisciplinary writer, public policy analyst and filmmaker. She is based in Colombo but 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 and a Masters in Public Policy at Harvard. She is a 25-26 Open Society Fellow.

Rishi Selvam

Cinematographer / Creative producer

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.

Hania Mariam Luthufi

Music Director

Hania Mariam Luthufi is a an inter-disciplinary vocalist, improvisor/composer and educator whose practice bridges the musical traditions of Raga-Sangeet and folksong traditions of South Asia with the freedom of improvisation. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Critical Approaches to Improvisation at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre.

Abishek Palraj

Editor

Abishek Palraj's career as a visual storyteller spans graphic design, photography, editing, direction and production. Abishek, who has a portfolio of nearly ten short and micro-films, served as an Assistant Director on the Tamil film Perusu and is now contributing to an upcoming Sinhala feature film.

Aathan Sivananthar

Editor

Aathan Sivananthar is an independent filmmaker, colourist and photographer. He was the editor of the film Tentigo which was the winner of the Special Jury Prize in the First Feature competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Aathan has over six years of experience in editing TV commercials and documentaries.

Isaac Nico

Photographer

Isaac Nico is a lens-based practitioner based in Bangalore, India. The son of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee, his work explores the evolving means of cultural assertion by communities, examining its sociotechnic value and ideotechnic worth.

Helene Leuzinger

Visual Designer

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.

Niklas Stadler

Music

Niklas Stadler is a Hamburg-based guitarist, producer, and visual artist exploring improvisation, global traditions, and experimental sound worlds. Shaped by collaborations across North and West Africa, his work focuses on analog textures, bold gestures, and the emotional resonance of sound.

Pathmayan Sivanathan

Sound engineer

Jaffna-based Pathmayan Siva specializes in music composition and surround mixing. He is a three-time Sri Lankan National Award winner for Best Melody and Composition. He has also received two international awards for Best Musical Theme and the Derana Lux Award for Best Original Background Score.