Filmmaker KP Sasi’s camera spans the coastline of Tamil Nadu, picking out the survivors of the ocean’s worst calamity, the tsunami. His latest documentary, Tsunami Rehabilitation: an Unfinished Business, was recently screened in the city.

The film — part of a trilogy that includes Resisting Coastal Invasions and Time after Tsunami — highlights the disorderly manner of rehabilitation work in the affected states. Four years after the giant waves wrecked havoc, Sasi says that “we are committing the same mistakes as in

the past when dealing with natural calamities”.

The 43-minute documentary traces the lives and struggles of displaced fishermen. “Most fishermen have been relocated 10 km from the coastline, killing their only source of livelihood. There was no local representation when they were being allocated housing. Even these houses lack safe foundations. They are like sand boxes on the land,” he says.

Sasi’s canvas has always been the marginalised sections and he takes up the role of an activist behind the camera. “One needs creativity to be an activist. Every aspect of my films vents my feelings for the marginalised societies,” says Sasi, whose other subject is adivasi communities.