SYNOPSIS

Nazeem Hussain is a grown man whose mum won't let him go to Sri Lanka. But he's just had a kid, and he's started thinking ahead to the questions his son might ask him one day, like, 'why are we brown?'. So Naz flies to Sri Lanka with the echoes of his Mum's protests in his ears.

Naz tours Sri Lanka at a pivotal time for the country - politically and culturally. A new government is elected while Naz is in the air, so he lands in a strange atmosphere of confusion and change. Under this government's previous reign, disappearances of minorities were rife, and as a minority Muslim in this country, Naz's Mum has good reason to be scared of what's coming for him. In the face of a mountain climb, a battle with a lethal martial arts guru, the forces of black and white magic and a deathly curse, Naz should really be scared too.

WHAT WE DID

Working with Naz in 2019, we unpacked some of his most burning questions about becoming a father and the cultural knowledge he would pass on. This formed the basis of an eight episode series where Naz travels back to Sri Lanka in search of the ‘real’ Sri Lanka.

We recorded the journey on the ground and then, working with Naz, crafted an eight episode series with field recordings and script.

CREDITS

Publisher: Audible

Host: Nazeem Hussain

Writers: Joel Slack-Smith and Nazeem Hussain

Producer and Sound Designer: James Milsom

Executive Producer (Audiocraft): Kate Montague

Executive Producer (Audible): Monique Keller