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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Focus on victims of development

A Correspondent

‘Chalachitravaram - 2008, opened at Town Hall in Kalpetta on Thursday

Kalpetta: ‘Chalachitravaram-2008,’ the fifth edition of the film festival organised by the Nethi Film Society, Wayanad, in association with the District Information Office, Wayanad, and the Media study Centre, Kozhikode, opened at the Town Hall here on Thursday.

Eight documentaries were screened on Thursday. The documentaries were based on the theme ‘Victims of Development.’ The first documentary Kora Rajee (Land of Diggers), directed by Biju Toppo and Megnath, talks about Adivasi tea garden labourers of Assam and North Bengal.

It deals with the history of what compelled them to migrate 150 years ago and the present crisis. Mayana Kurippugal (Notes from the Crematorium) captures the experience of people who make a living out of the dead and how there is reconciliation, although in death between the rich and the poor, upper and lower castes, intellectual and idiot.

The film captures the experience of a section of the Dalit community that continues to do jobs that are sub-human.

Tamil documentary

This Tamil documentary, directed by R.P.Amudam, is a journey through the Madurai central crematorium where Dalit workers ,who are considered to be untouchable, conduct the final rites of their fellow beings. The long days, by Mauro Gluntini, offers a poetic interpretation of the struggle for land through history — a dialogue between God and the people.

The documentary India Untouched – stories of a people apart by K. Stalin takes a comprehensive look at the lives of the untouchable. Motivated by ancient religious edicts, no amount of governmental encouragement has been able to stem the tragic custom that separates human beings according to their birth.

The other documentaries like Puzhayude Avakasikal by Sarath Chandran; Third Eye, Nandigram by Saju Lindon; Development flows from the barrel of gun by Bijo Toppo and Plachimada by Sarath Chandran were also screened.

Open forum

As apart of the film Festival, an Open Forum was held here. Vijaya Raghavan Cheliya, State vice-president, Lohia Vichar Vedi, and Sarath Chandran, documentary film director, spoke on ‘The politics of development.’

The film festival will conclude on Wednesday.

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