‘Burning Birds’ relates the story of a family in Trincomalee that gets caught up in the cycle of violence during this time. The story is at three levels relating the decline in society at large, the diminution and downfall of the family in question and the decay and eventual destructive despair of the matriarchal chief breadwinner of the family. While this narrative of society, family and individual unfolds on screen, we are also able to witness the machismo, male-dominated society at its worst during times of conflict and the powerless helplessness of the women exploited most cruelly in such times.