Over the 26-year armed conflict in Sri Lanka, many Tamil families were forced to flee their homeland, seeking refuge in countries like Canada. Their stories are explored in the documentary Ray of Hope.

The film was produced, written, and directed by UWindsor alumnus Ryan Singh (BA 2000) alongside his collaborating partner Nikila Cole. Singh has worked on projects for NBC, Fox, CBS, Amazon, and the Oscar-nominated film The Breadwinner. Ray of Hope centres on the experiences of Rathika Sitsabaiesan, a former Canadian Member of Parliament, who fled the Sri Lankan civil war as a child with her family.

“Rathika’s story is where we pick up from, but we surround her story with the experiences of other people who left as refugees and under unique circumstances. Each story is anchored by a period of the 26-year armed conflict,” Singh explained.

The decades-long war between the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan government ended on May 18, 2009. About four years later Sitsabaiesan, then an NDP MP, felt it was the safest time to return to Sri Lanka, with Singh there to document the visit.

Singh recalled that when he and Rathika Sitsabaiesan arrived in Sri Lanka, they were under surveillance for about two days before they heard authorities issued a warrant for her arrest, Singh said. Sri Lankan media reports stated she had been placed under house arrest, news that made its way to Canada.

“For 18 hours, we sat in limbo not knowing what was going to happen while governments talked to governments to try and find out what is the situation and how to deal with it,” he remembered.

While Sitsabaiesan was not placed under house arrest, the circumstances surrounding the trip and the events that took place changed the direction of Singh’s film, leaving him uncertain about how to proceed with the content.

He temporarily shelved the project, and while working on other pursuits, completed a series of programs he described as a “masterclass of understanding the principles behind filmmaking business,” which forced him to reconsider the story he wanted to tell.

“Knowing the power of storytelling, I realized that we needed to orient to finish it. So, I looked at it from a trauma-based perspective, not the focus on the dirty theatre of war. But what we are masking all the time? What is the impact of trauma and the generational effect? But what came out wasn’t a story about trauma. It was a story about identity. A story about culture, a story about statelessness, and a story about belonging,” Singh explained.

The film captures these themes by showcasing the lived experiences of Tamil refugees, emphasizing that their journeys are shaped not just by their struggles but also by their resilience. Through personal narratives, Ray of Hope dives into how trauma influences one’s sense of self and connection to community.

To help get the film off the ground, Singh reached out to Cole, who worked as an executive producer, co-director, and co-writer on Ray of Hope and was immediately drawn to the project.

The pair worked together to shoot B-roll and conduct and direct interviews with various Tamil people. Singh said the filmmakers worked closely with leaders, elders, Sitsabaiesan, and other subjects, even travelling to England and the United Nations in Geneva to speak with people from diverse areas to help tell the story.

“In front of the camera, we had older people who were highly impacted and or almost killed by assailants,” Singh said. “We had people who were much removed in terms of being born in Canada but still connected to the story because of their family’s relationship to it. So, it’s a real celebration of the diversity of Tamil as well as the celebration of the diversity of the people who helped them make it happen.”

Cole added the filmmakers took great care to keep it authentic to the Tamil people.

“We worked with consultants on every frame. I mean there’s not a frame that wasn’t scrutinized for authenticity and factual correctness,” she said. “But beyond that, our goal was always to make a film about this subject that anyone could relate to.”

Ray of Hope premiered over the summer in theatres and made its way through the film festival circuit across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. An official selection at 14 festivals, it was nominated for more than 60 awards and received 10, including Best Documentary Director at the Hamilton Black Film Festival and the Best Documentary Film and Audience Choice awards at the Romford Film Festival. The film won Best Documentary Film at the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival and Toronto Tamil Film Festival.

“The first time I saw it on the big screen with an audience of 500 people, they were glued the entire time. Ninety-five minutes and I could feel them. They were moved emotionally and at the end, they stood up — 500 of them gave a five-minute standing ovation,” Cole said of the experience.

“The film is heavy, but it’s also full of hope. It’s all full of resilience. A story of triumph.”

Living in Toronto, Singh runs Ryan Singh Production Ltd., producing documentaries, short films, and scripted narrative projects rooted in social justice.