Journey

Payanam

The stories of five women who survived the horrors of civil war in Sri Lanka are transformed into powerful performance art in this film about justice, memories and hope.

In the aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war, which began in 1983 and ended in 2009, five women collaborate with a team of theatre practitioners and academic researchers, sharing the horrific violence they endured during the conflict as part of a process of recovery. Journey is a deeply moving retelling of these experiences through performance art — monologues, dance, movement, folklore and music – which becomes an exercise in mapping and archiving memories. As we are transported through the survivors’ personal experiences, filmmaker Visakesa Chandrasekaram (who previously touched on the conflict as writer-director of the narrative features Paangshu (2018) and Munnel (2023), not only explores what justice and resistance look like, but also what hope, dreams, love, longing and safety represent in their world.

Content Guidance: Film contains references to war and discussions about sexual harassment, assault & rape.