Pens and Guns (A Documentary Film)
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pens__guns.mov
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Topics
Arts & Culture: Documentary
Human Rights: Civil Rights
Information & Media: Freedom of Expression, Media
Peace and Conflict: Arms & Military
Politics: Corruption & Transparency, Democracy, Ethics & Value Systems, Justice and Crime, Law
Project Geography
International: Asia
Identity Niches
Budget
Raised to date: $ 50,000.00
Estimate to complete: $ 45,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $ 95,000.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 06/24/2009
Status
Production
Media Type
Video
Project End Use
TV
Key Personnel
Indika Udugampola
Director
A Sri Lankan film maker / Journalist exile in France at the moment, has already directed one feature film, 25 short films and 06 documentary films most of them screened and received awards in various International Film Festivals.
Reporters without Borders
Co Producer
Reporters Without Borders is present in all five continents through its national branches (in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland), its offices in New York, Tokyo and Washington, and the more than 120 correspondents it has in other countries. The organisation also works closely with local and regional press freedom groups that are members of the Reporters Without Borders Network, in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Burma, Colombia, Democratic Congo, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Russia, Somalia, the United States and Tunisia.
Reporters Without Borders is registered in France as a non-profit organisation and has consultant status at the United Nations.
In 2005, the organisation won the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Outreach/Engagement Plan(s)
The unprecedented level of harassment meted out against the exercise of media freedom in Sri Lanka during the past couple of years is as such that its prompt recording and sharing the knowledge with others should act as an effective deterrent against its recurrence.
In this regard, raising awareness among pressure groups within the country as well as in the international community of the nature of the core issues in their correct perspective, thereby drawing their timely attention to the remedial measures needed for the proper functioning of free expression in the future, is paramount in the intent of this project.
With this objective in mind, we intend to distribute free copies of this documentary among community organizations, social activist groups and NGOs operating in the country with a view to initiating a constructive discourse aimed at reaching a consensus on the urgency of taking concrete actions to stem the deteriorating trend.
In addition, the services of international television channels are to be solicited for the dissemination of the message on a wider scale so that the local voice could be futher strenthened.
Funders
| Name | Amount | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporters without Borders | $ 5,000.00 | 06/15/2009 | |
| Nethra Creations | $ 25,000.00 | 05/21/2009 | |
| Centre national de la cinématographie (CNC) Cultural Ministry of France | $ 20,000.00 | 07/07/2008 |
Location(s)
36 rue Cler
Paris, 75007
Short Synopsis
A documentary film on media suppression in Sri Lanka
Description/Treatment
Project Overview
Abduction and eventual killing of Sivaram, the Tamil journalist of English/Tamil medium whose contribution to free media in Sri Lanka was enormousand the assassination of Sinhala journalist of English medium LasanthaWickramathunga, reputed to be a leading luminary in investigative journalism,are the most brutal episodes of the contemporary media suppression in SriLanka.
Presently, more than100 journalists are living in exile. Even after the war has been won by the government, journalists of some conscience are still being hunted and persecutedon account of their having had a pro-peace stand prior to the war and courageously exposing atrocities during the war. Poddala Jayantha, a veteran journalist and the secretary of Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association who had played a leading role in safeguarding freedom of expression was abducted and brutally assaulted, not during the war but in the jubilation of unfettered triumphalism. According to latest international ranking, Sri Lanka has ended up being the fifth most unsafe country in the world for a journalist to live!
Starting with vibrant media freedom that Sri Lanka enjoyed at its Independence in 1948, the film will follow the course of its gradual decline as the country had to face socio-economic crises in the 1960's, resulting with the radicalisation of Sinhala youth in the South and Tamil youth in the North-East in the 1970's.
In this backdrop,whenever faced with political challenges, both ruling parties (the Sri LankaFreedom Party and the United National Party) have always tended to find in free media a potential threat to their partisan ambitions.
In 1964, the PrimeMinister Ms. Sirimavo Bandaranaike attempted in vain to restrict media freedom by way of introducing a draconian Press Council Bill which could have acted, if succeeded, as an absolute media police.
The Lake House, the main media institution in the country which was until then a private enterprise was nationalised by her when she came back to power in 1970. Since that time,this institution stands as the mouthpiece of the incumbent government's political agenda, irrespective of the party each government at different times belonged to.
Two insurrections by the Sinhala youth in the South in 1971 and 1987-89, followed by a long civil war between the Tamil insurgents in the North-East and the Sri Lankan government from 1983 up to 2009, led to the State becoming more and more repressive to the extent of free expression of humanitarian concerns being labelled as unpatriotic.
The situation was aggravated when the cease-fire agreement signed between the government of Ranil Wickramasinghe (UNP) and Tamil Tigers (LTTE) was unilaterally abrogated by the present government of Mahinda Rajapakse (SLFP), leading to full scale war in2006.
This is the period the most virulent and heinous attacks against free expression were launched not only by the government but also by interested sections in the media fraternity itself, based on the demarcation line of pro-war and pro-peace political approaches. Since then, 11 journalists have been killed and innumerable number of journalists has been attacked or intimidated, without a single perpetrator being taken in to custody up to now.
As if to consolidate the military upper hand gained through the war and to cement it in the form of repressive politics, finally, the Press Council Bill, vainly attempted at promulgating by different regimes at different times has now been instituted withno concrete opposition whatsoever, after the successful conclusion of the war.
Goal
The tendency prevalent in the country to reassert the hegemonic claims over ethnic minorities in particular and authoritarian dictums against dissenting voice in general, after the war, has all the potential to act against basic democratic principles, media freedom being the foremost among them. In order to preserve the rich tradition of democratic governance enjoyed since Independence, educating the people and forewarning the international community of dangers looming ahead in this sphere are imperative. The rapid militarisation of society that is being executed at the moment on the gains of war, if notfought against and contained right now will devour the civilised social fabric of democracy, making national reconciliation unachievable in the present generation.
Objective
Freedom of expression, unless appropriated in time of need, is likely tobe in peril for a long time to come. Given the fact that it is the Fourth Estate that upholds and enhances all other pillars of democracy, writing acontemporary narrative of its predicament becomes not only an important exercise of recording of contemporary history but also an attempt at rectifying the derailment at the proper time.
In this regard, the documentary film intends to clarify authentic causes behind the present media suppression in Sri Lanka in a historical perspective with special reference to the last couple of years when the war was in its full swing, while keeping a proper focus on each incident of incongruity that sheds light on the interconnectedness between unruly acts against press freedom and political manoeuvring at higher echelons of power.
Speaking through a visual language about killings, abductions, extortions, threats etc, against free expression is an extraordinarily powerful and straightforward means in disseminatinga timely message which is humanly urgent in its functional significance and highly ethical in its social responsibility.
Furthermore,compiling an exhaustive chronicle of media harassment could stand as aconstraint against its perpetuation in the present environment where the pseudo requirements of war for territorial integrity and national sovereignty are no longer warranted.
Documentation and Methodology
The material to be used includes:
1. Reportages in print and electronic media covering main incidents of media repression during last three years
2. Evidence gathered through third party channels to corroborate the involvement of political interests in the said suppression.
3. Pictures and videos, where available, of direct or relevant incidents of killings, abductions, beatings, arrests, arson attacks, threats etc.
4. Fresh and old interviews of victims or persons related to them
5. Opinions of intellectuals on specific happenings
6. Statements by politicians and others in connection with media freedom
7. A brief history of local media institutions and their independence from or dependence on business/political interests and the political motivation behind the nationalisation of the Lake House and sealing of "Davasa"group of newspapers
8. The practice and behaviour of government and private media
9. Background material to the war mongering by certain elements in electronic and print media and inciting hatred against the 'Other' during and after the war
10. Related matters with Tamil insurrection and impact of war on media freedom.
These will be arranged in a sequence of visual narrative supported by oral commentary, switching back and forth, where necessary, to highlight the significance of the matter under discussion and its relevance to the whole.Those who escaped possible death, allegedly at the hands of government sponsored goons, will be interviewed at their present locations, mainly in Switzerland, England, Germany and India.
Time frame for the completion
Six months
Clientele
The immediate clientele will be the international community, Sri Lankan Diaspora and media watchdogs, and at a later stage, depending on the viability of the situation, Sri Lanka mass audience. Given the fact that a vast SriLankan community is presently living abroad (France, Germany, Switzerland,Canada, Australia, Italy, England, USA and India) the potential of engenderinga dominant voice and exerting some pressure through them on the happenings backhome is note worthy. On the other hand, this same voice, to a certain extent,might impact the timely responses of respective countries vis à vis thedeteriorating situation in Sri Lanka.
Duration of the film
52 Min.
Locations
Sri Lanka
India
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Germany
France
Canada