Republic of Amnesia

(2025, 78 mins, Sri Lanka / United Kingdom)

Republic of Amnesia follows a group of young activists through the rise and aftermath of the Aragalaya (or “struggle”), the mass protest movement that forced Sri Lanka’s president out of office in 2022.

Centring on three young activists at the heart of the movement, the film follows a political coming-of-age as ordinary citizens briefly overturned an entrenched authoritarian order. 

In the months that followed, they encountered the return of a militarised state, navigating an increasingly Kafkaesque landscape of surveillance, intimidation, criminalisation and legal uncertainty.

Employing observational filmmaking alongside found footage and the digital vernaculars that animated the uprising, including TikTok clips, livestreams and memes, the film traces how ideals of non-violence and inclusivity were forged on the streets before being fractured by renewed repression and a broader culture of civic amnesia.