This month, we’ll be screening GoHomeGota (2023) by Sulochana Peiris, which tells the story of Sri Lanka’s youth-led Aragalaya (Struggle) protests in 2022, in response to the 2022 economic crisis.
Length: 51 minutes
Synopsis
This documentary tells the story of the movement-building and mobilisation that led to Sri Lanka’s 2022 Aragalaya protests, featuring interviews with several activists who were part of the protest movement since the beginning of the occupation of Galle Face Green, a public space which became a key protest site in Colombo. These leaders also discuss how they define and are working towards “system change” a key demand of the Aragalaya in response to frustrations around corruption and misgovernance.
Director’s bio: Sulochana Peiris is a researcher, writer, and documentary maker based in Sri Lanka. She holds a MA in Conflict and Peace Studies from the University of Colombo and her thesis focused on the Role of Social Media in Egypt's 2011 Revolution. Sulochana’s research interests include social and protest movements, social media, elite media capture, and women’s agency in collective action organisation. Sulochana is a visiting research fellow (honorary) at the Centre for Peace and Security of the University of Coventry, the UK. Her 2024 documentary, #GoHomeGota has been screened in Europe, the UK, South Africa, Asia and the US (online). Her latest documentary, Pettah (2025) has been screened in Sri Lanka and in several European countries and in film festivals in Mexico, Europe and India.
Do you know any visual storytellers looking for a platform to showcase their work about Southasia? If so, we want to hear from you! We're looking for documentaries, new and old, short and feature-length, to showcase in our programme. If you wish to pitch your film to us, please email editorial@himalmag.com.
