Brotherless Night

Ganeshananthan (Love Marriage) follows 16-year-old Sashi, a young woman studying medicine during the Sri Lankan civil war. In response to the Sinhalese-dominated government’s violent persecution of Tamils, hostilities broke out between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), who were fighting for an independent home for Tamils. When riots lead to the burning of the public library, everything changes for Sashi and her family. Government forces roam the neighborhood searching for Tamil families, and Tamil men are conscripted into the growing Tamil army. Non-combatants are at risk from both sides. While volunteering at a field hospital for the Tamil Tigers, a friend convinces Sashi to join a movement to document human rights abuses on both sides of the conflict. Despite the grave danger, she feels that the story of Sri Lanka’s long civil war has to be recorded. Narrator Nirmala Rajasingam delivers the story somewhat haltingly but with emotion that carries the narrative. Rajasingam effectively captures the horror of the civil war and the struggles of thousands of civilians who faced violence from both sides.