Faceless People: A documentary on why Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are still not Indian citizens
Over two decades of reporting on Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India, journalist RK Radhakrishnan has come to a crucial realization. “They don’t want sympathy, they want to be seen,” he writes in his director’s statement for Faceless People — The Journey of Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India, his debut documentary about an oppressed community he followed long before he picked up a camera, calling it “action” and “editing.”
This documentary, which was selected as a finalist in the SHORTS! The European Short Film Festival in Oslo (December 14) follows the lives of six refugees. Among them is a schoolboy, a housewife, a young woman with academic dreams, and the community’s first doctoral student.
All but the two youngest reached the Indian coast by boat in adverse, inhumane conditions to escape the brutal killing of Sri Lankan Tamils in northern Sri Lanka. Donning the director’s hat after nearly four decades as a print journalist, Radhakrishnan says the project grew out of his years of reporting in camps across Tamil Nadu, including camps in Thanjavur, Mannar and Tiruchi.
Still from Faceless People directed by RK Radhakrishan | Photo credit: M Vedan
“My first visit to the camp was in 2006. That was when there was an outbreak of cholera in the camps in Tamil Nadu. The government of (later chief minister) Karunanidhi set up about nine groups of ministers to visit the camps and find out what the people needed. It was the first time a large-scale investigation was done into the conditions of the camp. I thought if the affected people spoke for themselves, they would have more weight. It speaks on their behalf,” he says.
This instinct seems to have manifested itself in the director’s careful and deliberate restraint. Although the film keeps deep and raw emotions in its bones, it instead turns to talking about the subjects and the state of their Indian citizenship. Radhakrishnan says most of the people in the camp, who have lived in India for most of their lives, are yet to obtain their citizenship in the country. They are therefore unable to progress in their lives. Residents of these camps lack the right to vote, access to work and legal protection against exploitation.
Radhakrishnan questions what moral right India has to deny them citizenship, especially when nearly 98% of the 89,830 refugees live in peace. “This is a solvable problem that has only been stopped by the absence of political will in Delhi,” he says. Much of this is inertia rather than a real security threat, he adds.
“As a director, I was tempted to focus on the immediate physical and emotional state of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India. The texture of their hopelessness, the silent but steady erosion of hope and the palpable weariness of waiting. I had to resist this temptation and focus on the larger question of their precarious legal status, which is ultimately their reason for living.”
Radhakrishnan says the focus on status almost cost the film its ratings. Even after two-and-a-half months of reviewing the film, which largely focuses on the life and memory of a young child, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) found it suitable for viewing only by persons above the age of 16.
Supriya Sule, Kanimozhi, Thamizhachi Thangapandian and Jothimani Sennimalai at the Delhi screening of the documentary for Members of Parliament | Photo Credit: Special Event
In some ways, Faceless People attempts to remove the connection between refugees and their perception that they are “threats”, especially after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. This is evident in the way the filmmaker focuses his subjects, but most clearly in the way he tells the story of the youngest of the group. There is Negha, a scholar who wants to study abroad but still compromises his dreams but finds a way to work. Then there’s Abhinesh, the kid whose complete and utter resignation to the future when he says he may have no choice but to be a carpenter will break your heart and bring a tear to your eye.
RK Radhakrishnan with some of the people featured in the documentary | Photo credit: M Vedan
Radhakrishnan asks you to find solace instead in the story of AS Vijedharan, a young scholar who has just received his PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from Annamalai University. “It’s as remarkable as it is sad. So many more scholars could have had a bright future. So far there is one,” he says resignedly.
The documentary is an official selection of 2026 at The Hague International Film Festival (IFFH 2026), won Best Documentary on Migration and Refugees at the Los Angeles Film and Documentary Awards 2026 and won the Short Documentary Award (Special Jury) at the Roshani International Film Festival in Aurangabad in September 2026.
The intention is to get the film to as many festivals, administrators, people who can facilitate the change. After all, all one can do is hope and not be faceless in the process.
Published – 23 Sep 2026 12:55 IST