Last Man Standing

The Sikh community in Malawi has its roots in the 19th century, when Sikh workers came to help build the railways under British colonial administration. Many stayed, their families put down roots, and several generations later, their descendants are still there: a small, tight-knit community holding onto its Sikh identity in a predominantly Christian and Muslim country. This film tells their story across multiple generations, from the original arrivals to the people alive today who carry that history.

Last Man Standing is a film about persistence, about what it takes to maintain a cultural and religious identity across generations and across a vast distance from the community's origins. The Malawian Sikh community has never been large, and the pressures of assimilation and emigration have reduced it further over time. The film treats its subjects with genuine curiosity and respect, asking what it actually means to be Sikh in Malawi and what makes a community decide to hold on rather than let go.