Culture & Community

Culture & Community

Latest news from and about the homeland

Following his recent hit, 2023’s ‘Mark Antony,’ Adhik Ravichandran returns to the screen having teamed up with his idol Ajith Kumar for ‘Good Bad Ugly.’ Fanboy cinema has yielded interesting results for the industry recently: Karthik Subbaraj collaborated with Rajinikanth for 2019’s ‘Petta’ and Lokesh Kanagaraj worked with his idol Kamal Haasan for 2022’s ‘Vikram.’ These films are primarily…

VVT kite festival parades Tamil culture and resistance

Thousands of people came together to take part and enjoy the Kite Festival that took place on Tuesday in Valvettithurai (VVT), Jaffna. The annual Thai Pongal kite festival, held on January 14, was celebrated by residents and kite enthusiasts at VVT's Uthayasooriyan coast. 

British Tamil rapper M.I.A receives MBE from Royal Family

British Tamil rapper and activist M.I.A received an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for services to music from Prince William at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, and highlighted how her mother who fled Sri Lanka as a refugee helped stitch the very medal she received.

Pongalo pongal! Tamil festival celebrated in Eelam

Tamils in Eelam and around the world celebrated the festival of Thai Pongal on Wednesday.

First Eelam film to screen across Western countries receives rave reviews

Sinamkol, a film shot entirely in parts of Tamil Eelam has widely received rave reviews and is currently playing at a number of screens.

Ranjith Joseph, the director described the film as one that importantly “talks about the economic and cultural struggles the Tamils face in Sri Lanka, post the war”. The cast and the production team reflect the range of Eelam Tamils across the globe with cast and crew sourced from the diaspora community and locally. 

The film received praise from numerous members of the film industry. 

Tamil Eelam FA qualify for 2020 CONIFA World Cup

Tamil Eelam FA will be among the 16 teams competing in the 2020 Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) World Football Cup, after an impressing double victory in the qualifiers powered the team through to the tournament. 

The team played two CONIFA World Football 2020 qualifiers in December against East Turkistan and West Papua. Victory in both games saw Tamil Eelam gain enough points to qualify for the 2020 World Football Cup taking place between 30 May - 7 June 2020 in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia.

Eelam Tamils celebrate Christmas

Christmas was celebrated across the Tamil homeland today.

Thousands of Christians attended midnight mass and special services in churches across the North-East, while celebrations were held in homes and workplaces too.

 (Pictured: Midnight mass at St Mary's Cathedral, Jaffna and at St Sebastian's Cathedral, Mannar)

Tamil culture and resistance showcased at Jaffna Photography Festival

Photographs from across the North-East displaying Tamil culture and the nation’s history of resistance and remembrance were showcased at the Jaffna Photography Festival this weekend.

Healthy mind, body and soul’ – Mental Health day marked in London

How do you achieve a healthy mind, body and soul?

This was the question that was addressed at the World Mental Health event held in Kingston on Nov 3rd, 2019 to commemorate Mental Health Day organised by the Centre for Community Development.

Tamil Eelam beat Yorkshire in CONIFA World Football Cup qualifier

The Tamil Eelam football team managed to secure victory over Yorkshire last month, in a pulsating encounter at Ingfield Stadium in Ossett. 

The tight contest saw Tamil Eelam go ahead thanks to Thomas A, with a cross by Nirun from the left flank met by his surging run and finished off with a sliding right-footed shot. Tamil Eelam doubled their lead with a second half finish into the bottom left corner by Prashanth R, who was making his tenth appearance and scored his seventh goal for Tamil Eelam. Yorkshire scored a well worked goal in the latter stages of the game and pressed on as they searched for an equaliser. However, the Tamil Eelam defence held on and went on to take another win, as the team continues to grow.