‘Teardrop Nation’ Brings Sri Lanka’s Post-Independence History to the Screen

Teardrop Nation, a four-part documentary series examining Sri Lanka’s post-independence political and conflict history, was formally launched at Scope Cinemas Multiplex at Colombo City Centre on 8 October, with Bimal Rathnayake attending as Chief Guest. Developed over six years by Project 72, with Sarah Kabir as Project Director, the series brings together historical accounts, expert perspectives and lived experiences to explore the events and decisions that have shaped Sri Lanka since independence.

Created for a broad public audience, with a particular focus on younger generations, Teardrop Nation seeks to make Sri Lanka’s recent history more accessible and encourage greater engagement with the factors that contributed to discrimination, violence and conflict. The project was conceived not simply as a record of the past, but as an educational resource that can help audiences better understand how earlier choices and events continue to inform the country today.

Speaking at the launch, Sarah Kabir, Project Director of Teardrop Nation, said her decade of work on reconciliation had shaped the project. “Understanding our past is essential to building positive and lasting peace in Sri Lanka. We created Teardrop Nation to make this history more accessible, especially to younger people, and to encourage them to engage with it thoughtfully and critically. After six years of research and production, we hope the series creates space for informed conversation and a shared understanding of the experiences and decisions that shaped our country,” she said.

The series unfolds chronologically across four episodes: Foundations of Conflict (1930s–1970s), The Trigger (1970s–1980s), Battle for Peace (1980s–late 1990s) and War in Paradise (1990s–2009). Together, the episodes examine political and social developments across different periods and explore tensions linked to ethnicity, religion, class and caste.

A key ambition of Teardrop Nation is to bring conversations about Sri Lanka’s post-independence history to a wider public audience and invite critical reflection on the importance of understanding Sri Lanka’s history for the purpose of non-recurrence. It also encourages audiences to consider how historical decisions continue to shape the country today.