An insightful short documentary by Sri Lankan filmmaker Kannan Arunasalam, which tells the story of a small group of Sri Lankans of African descent, and their attempts to keep their culture alive in the face of falling numbers.

According to Arunasalam, the Kaffirs of Sri Lanka started arriving from the eastern shores of Africa in the 1500s with the Portuguese, and later in more waves with the different colonizers of Sri Lanka.

And in case you weren’t aware, the term “Kaffir” is a racist slur used by whites towards blacks in Southern Africa (it was also in wide use among whites in the West in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century). It also means “unbeliever” in Arabic.

But in this specific case, in Arunasalam’s short film subject, it’s not the racial insult that it is in other parts of the world, notably South Africa, or a racist word like nigger here in the USA.

Watch “Kaffir Culture” below :