Journalists in Sri Lanka risk life and limb to practice their profession. Lasantha Wickrematunge was one of these champions. He was gunned down by eight men in broad daylight in the capital, Colombo. His newly wed and now widowed wife, Sonali Samarasinghe, had to arrange her bridegroom’s funeral only a few days after the wedding. Besides being editor-in-chief of the critical newspaper The Morning Leader, Wickrematunge was also a fierce opponent of the Sri Lankan government. As a lawyer and journalist, his wife worked closely with him; the government forced her to leave the country not long after his killing. Since that time, Samarasinghe has been fighting for justice from her base in New York. Sri Lanka is one of the most perilous countries in the world for journalists. According to official sources, nearly 25 journalists have been killed there since 1992, at least 10 of whom were deliberately targeted by suspected government or opposition Tamil Tiger forces. Director Beate Arnestad tells the story of the civil war in Sri Lanka based on the stories of journalists living in exile. She seeks out various reporters who risk their lives over and over to highlight the human rights violations taking place in their homeland.

Silenced Voices is a documentary film by Beate Arnestad. Its about freedom of speech and messengers of truth. It shows how much individuals are willing to risk to bring information to light. The film focuses on personal encounters with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and targeted for assassination because they exposed corruption, massacres of civilians and other war crimes committed by the state. As the treatment demonstrates, Sri Lanka ranks as one of the worse countries in Asia with respect to freedom of the press. Over the past few years, many outspoken journalists have been tortured or killed. Others have simply disappeared. At least 50 have fled the country.

Screening: 

Sunday 30th June 2013; 7 PM at KL Performing Arts Center (www.klpac.org); Admission Free