Day by day

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

// 2011 // Couleur // 49'
English/Tamil/Singhalese with French subtitles

During the last months of the civil war that opposed the Sri Lankan government to the separatist Tamil Tigers movement, war crimes were rampant. In a climate of total impunity. With the governing regime denying the facts and the UN mired in inertia, British TV Channel 4 decided to provide film footage that once and for all would prove and denounce the atrocities suffered by the Tamil population.
The documentary is composed of devastating sequences filmed with mobile phones or small cameras by civilians and Sri Lankan soldiers. It shows scenes – unbearable ones– of the civilian population being massacred by the government and used as human shields by the Tigers’ army. Presented to the UN Human Rights Council, the film finally achieved its goal of raising the awareness of the international community. The film team has been nominated for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

Callum McCrae