Sri Lanka Film Supported by Pulitzer Center Wins 2 Prizes at India Festival

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The Pulitzer Center-supported documentary Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka—Beyond the Headlines won two awards at the second Jalgaon International Film Festival in India, taking home Best Social Film and Best Screenplay. 

The festival honors outstanding cinematic achievements across the globe.

In 2022, mass public protests over a severe economic crisis forced a regime change in Sri Lanka, a nation with one of the world's oldest democratic traditions. While a nearly $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan eased the immediate crisis, in 2024 the country still carried $17 billion in debt, with its 22 million citizens continuing to face food insecurity, unemployment, and inflation. 

The award-winning documentary by journalist and filmmaker Beena Sarwar explores how national and global economic forces cause ripple effects at the local level. Sarwar follows farmers and rural communities while also examining the growing influence of world powers investing in the country for their own strategic interests.

The film premiered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in July 2024, attracting ambassadors, political figures, journalists, academics, and retired military officials. Since then, it has been screened at over 80 events in 25 countries, spanning cities including Boston; Buffalo, New York; Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan; Jaipur, India; New Delhi; Hyderabad, India; Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Kathmandu, Nepal.