Analysis without agenda: Creating spaces for understanding and empathy

Posted on March 2, 2026 by beenasarwar

‘Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines’ wins two awards at Jalgaon International Film Festival

The world is in turmoil. And we can still celebrate that our Pulitzer Center-supported documentary ‘Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines’ received two awards at the Second Jalgaon International Film Festival, in Aurangabad (now Chhatrpati Sambhajinagar), India. at a ceremony on Sunday, 1 March 2026, for Best Social Film (Outstanding Achievement), and Best Screenplay. 

The 24-minute film explores the situation two years after the island nation’s economic collapse. We filmed at a remote, ancient village (puranagama) in Sri Lanka’s North-Central Province, talking to farmers, teachers, and school children, then to policy makers, economists and then Prime Minister in the capital Colombo.

Educational and political activist Mirza Dawood Azad and engineer Shoeb Shah receiving the awards on behalf of Sapan. Photo: Supplied

Some press coverage ahead of the event:

Much gratitude to the Pulitzer Center for making this project possible, all the friends who contributed subsequently, and thanks to the Jalgaon International film festival and jury members for conferring the awards on this film, which would not have been possible without the co-writer and co-director, Sri Lankan historian and filmmaker Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita Delgoda who conceptualised the project, and researcher Uditha Devapriya who provided invaluable support, and cinematography by Yoshitha Perera.

Thanks also to Mirza Dawood Azad, a local educational and political activist, who took time out to receive the awards on our behalf, and thanks to Aligharh Muslim University alumnus S. Ali Rizvi in Boston for facilitating this connection.

According to the Jalgaon International Festival Facebook page, the festival received more than 2,500 film submissions this year from 75 countries. Democracy in Debt is among the 250 films being awarded by a jury comprising professionals from India, Iran, Egypt, Portugal and the Netherlands.

This is the first film made under the auspices of the Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, which turns five this month, and Sapan News, a syndicated features service.

This is a cross-border, cross-regional, and cross-diaspora initiative that aims to create spaces for understanding and empathy. We provide analysis without agenda; the documentary is a testament to Sapan’s ability to represent local communities authentically.

In 2025, it was dubbed into Urdu (thanks to Nusrat Amin, head of Geomentary, Geo TV) and Sinhala (thanks to senior journalist Priyantha Pradeep Ranasinghe). It is perhaps the first documentary to be produced in these three languages.

The film, relevant beyond Sri Lanka, was first screened at the Barberyn Ayurveda resort in Weligama, south Sri Lanka. It officially premiered at a cinema in Colombo, hosted by Factum International, in July 2024. attended by ambassadors, political figures, journalists, academics, cultural figures and retired military leaders.

It has been screened at more than 80 venues in some 25 countries across the world. Screenings in the U.S. include Emerson College, Boston; Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge MA; Cornell University; and SUNY Buffalo. Other screening venues include community centres and in South Asia, including Karachi, Lahore, Jaipur, New Delhi, Hyderabad (India), Dhaka, and Kathmandu.

Kamran Rehmat’s Gulf Times report on Sapan film ‘Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines’ being awarded at the Jalgaon International film festival, India.

About the film here, and how to watch it here.

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