List of films about the Tamil genocide

Last updated

This is a filmography for films and artistry on the graphic, theatrical and conventional, documental portrayal of the Tamil genocide against the Sri Lankan Tamils. All the listed films and documentaries are directly related only to Tamil genocide.

Contents

Films

Documentaries

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lankan Civil War</span> 1983–2009 conflict

The Sri Lankan Civil War was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam led by Velupillai Prabhakaran. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Peace Keeping Force</span> Military unit in the Sri Lankan Civil War

Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan Civil War between Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan military.

The war was waged for over a quarter of a century, with an estimated 70,000 killed by 2007. Immediately following the end of war, on 20 May 2009, the UN estimated a total of 80,000–100,000 deaths. However, in 2011, referring to the final phase of the war in 2009, the Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka stated, "A number of credible sources have estimated that there could have been as many as 40,000 civilian deaths." The large majority of these civilian deaths in the final phase of the war were said to have been caused by indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

War crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War are war crimes and crimes against humanity which the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been accused of committing during the final months of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009. The war crimes include attacks on civilians and civilian buildings by both sides; executions of combatants and prisoners by both sides; enforced disappearances by the Sri Lankan military and paramilitary groups backed by them; sexual violence by the Sri Lankan military; the systematic denial of food, medicine, and clean water by the government to civilians trapped in the war zone; child recruitment, hostage taking, use of military equipment in the proximity of civilians and use of forced labor by the Tamil Tigers.

<i>Ambuli</i> 2012 Indian film

Ambuli is a 2012 Tamil stereoscopic science fiction horror 3D film written and directed by Hari Shankar and Hareesh Narayan, who earlier directed Orr Eravuu in 2010. The film is the first stereoscopic film to be directed. Produced by KTVR Loganathan, the film features an ensemble cast of R. Parthiban, Gokulnath, Jagan, P. S. Srijith, R. Ajay, Sanam Shetty, and Jothisha. The film released on 17 February 2012, where it ran for over 100 days and became a box office success.

With the Sri Lankan Civil War spanning for nearly 30 years (1983–2009), the conflict has been portrayed in a variety of ways in popular culture, both during the war and after its conclusion.

<i>Sri Lankas Killing Fields</i> 2011 Channel 4 television documentary

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields is an investigatory documentary about the final weeks of the Sri Lankan Civil War broadcast by the British TV station Channel 4 on 14 June 2011. Described as one of the most graphic documentaries in British TV history, the documentary featured amateur video from the conflict zone filmed by civilians and Sri Lankan soldiers which depicted "horrific war crimes".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Callum Macrae</span>

Callum Macrae is a Scottish filmmaker, writer and journalist currently with Outsider Television, which he had co-founded with Alex Sutherland in 1993.

<i>Sri Lankas Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished</i> British TV series or programme

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished is an investigatory documentary about the final weeks of the Sri Lankan Civil War broadcast by the British TV station Channel 4 on 14 March 2012. It was a sequel to the award-winning Sri Lanka's Killing Fields which was broadcast by Channel 4 in June 2011. Made by film maker Callum Macrae, this documentary focused on four specific cases and investigated who was responsible for them. Using amateur video from the conflict zone filmed by civilians and Sri Lankan soldiers, photographs and statements by civilians, soldiers and United Nations workers, the documentary traced ultimate responsibility for the cases to Sri Lanka's political and military leaders. The documentary was made by ITN Productions and presented by Jon Snow, the main anchor on Channel 4 News. The Sri Lankan government has denied all the allegations in the documentary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil genocide</span> Genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka

The Tamil genocide, also known as the Sri Lankan Tamil genocide, or the Eelam Tamil genocide, refers to the various acts of physical violence and cultural destruction committed against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka during the Sinhala–Tamil ethnic conflict beginning in 1956, particularly during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Various commenters have accused the Sri Lankan state of responsibility for and complicity in Tamil genocide and point to state-sponsored settler colonialism, state-backed pogroms, and mass killings, enforced disappearances and sexual violence by the security forces as examples of genocidal acts. The conflict and its brutal end have sparked an international debate and they have also led to calls for accountability and justice.

<i>No Fire Zone</i> British TV series or programme

No Fire Zone: In the Killing Fields of Sri Lanka is an investigative documentary about the final weeks of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The documentary covers the period from September 2008 until the end of the war in 2009 in which thousands of Tamil people were killed by shelling and extrajudicial executions by the Sri Lankan Army including Balachandran Prabhakaran, the 12-year-old son of the slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran. The Sri Lankan army has denied the allegations in the documentary. However, on 21 October 2015 the BBC reported that Maxwell Paranagama, a government-appointed Sri Lankan judge, says allegations the army committed war crimes during the long conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels are "credible". He went on to say there was evidence to suggest that footage obtained by the Channel 4 documentary No Fire Zone - showing prisoners naked, blindfolded, with arms tied and shot dead by soldiers - was genuine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Anti–Sri Lanka protests</span> Student protests in India

The 2013 Anti–Sri Lanka protests are a series of student protests and agitations initiated by the Students Federation for Freedom of Tamil Eelam in Tamil Nadu, India, against war crimes committed against Sri Lankan Tamil people by Sri Lankan army during the Eelam War IV. The protesters demanded that the Government of India vote in support of a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution censuring the Government of Sri Lanka for war crimes. Some radical groups even demanded the prosecution of the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse for his role in the alleged genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils. Apart from college students, doctors, film personalities and employees of IT companies also participated in the protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaipriya</span> Sri Lankan journalist and Television Broadcaster (1982–2009)

Shoba, also known as Shobana Dharmaraja, was a Sri Lankan Tamil journalist and television broadcaster for the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). She died in the final days of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009 with video evidence that she was captured by the Sri Lankan military before being raped, tortured and murdered. A senior United Nations official deemed the footage to be authentic. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also verified that it was her.

Sri Lanka's Unfinished War is a 2013 documentary examining the alleged genocide and crimes against humanity against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sri Lankan Government. It was presented by Frances Harrison former BBC correspondent to Sri Lanka, and was first screened on the BBC World News on November 9, 2013. Sri Lanka's Unfinished War which presents harrowing cases of testimony from interviewees, brings to light evidence on the systematic post-war rape and torture in detention, organized by the State on the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Government denied the evidence that was put forth to them from the video..

I Witnessed Genocide: Inside Sri Lanka's Killing Fields is a 2011 investigative documentary film by Ms. Priyamvatha of the Indian news channel Headlines Today. Ms. Priyamvatha went undercover to the Vanni to report on the survivors of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day</span> Remembrance day observed by Sri Lankan Tamils (May 18)

Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day is a remembrance day observed by Sri Lankan Tamils to remember those who were killed during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War. It is held each year on 18 May, the date on which the civil war ended in 2009, and is named after Mullivaikkal, a village on the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka which was the scene of the final battle of the civil war and the site of the Mullivaikkal massacre.

Sinamkol is a 2020 Tamil-language war drama film directed by Ranjith Joseph and starring Aravindhan. It is a Sri Lankan-Indian co-production.

Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka has occurred repeatedly during the island's long ethnic conflict. The first instances of rape of Tamil women by Sinhalese mobs were documented during the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom. This continued in the 1960s with the deployment of the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna, who were reported to have molested and occasionally raped Tamil women.

Contributions to popular culture involving direct reference to the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Indian cinema are listed below. All communities that speak Tamil and originally came from Sri Lanka are included. Tamils of Sri Lanka today are a trans-national minority and are found across the globe. While most films on the topic are made in Tamil cinema, there has also been Malayalam and Hindi content on the area.

Sri Lanka’s Rebel Wife: A woman’s search for her missing husband is a documentary by Kannan Arunasalam about missing Tamil rebels who surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army in the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War. It deals with the case of Ananthi Sasitharan 's husband EIilan who surrendered to the Sri Lankan army and was never seen again. The film was shortlisted for the DIG Investigative Documentary awards in Modena, Italy and recognised at the 42nd International URTI Grand Prix with the Martine Filippi prize for Discovery.

References

  1. "An Indian in the eye of a storm | undefined News - Times of India". The Times of India . 19 May 2003.
  2. "'Those who banned the film have not seen it!'".
  3. https://tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39687
  4. "Amudhan aka Sinamkol". IMDb .
  5. "Legacies and Lessons: Sexual Violence against Men and Boys in Sri Lanka and Bosnia & Herzegovina".
  6. "Video: Haunted by Her Yesterdays". 29 March 2013.
  7. "'We have nothing to lose anymore' – Interview with Ananthy Sasitharan | Tamil Guardian".
  8. "Sri Lanka's Rebel Wife: A woman's search for her missing husband".
  9. Chamberlain, Gethin (15 September 2009). "'As the shells fell, we tried to save lives with no blood or medicine'". The Guardian.