Documentaries, Made With Love

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I attended the 13th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival held today at our college. I was lucky that our college was one of the venues for the short film festival. Since I had never been to a film festival before, it was quite the experience for me.

Six films were screened, films made with dedicated cast and crew. The films covered a range of topics and people which I had no knowledge of beforehand. Like I might have said in my previous blogs, my great love for movies is mostly taken up by cheesy popcorn flicks. However, after watching these film productions today, it reminds me of how powerful the media of film can be especially in the hands of a dedicated crew. The first documentary was about a football academy in rural Tamil Nadu. We looked into the lives of the schoolkids and the dedicated coach who aimed to see football as a means to a better life, away from forced hard labour and casteism. I shall be spending a little more time with this film than the others.

The heroes in this film are not actors, they are kids and the community in real life. The documentary shows the conviction of the coach to change things for the better. We also see the personal struggles of the families of the children, who work hard in the sugarcane plantations so that their children do not have to. There was a good touch of humour and optimism especially with this kid called ‘Poet Rohit Sharma’ (if I remember it correctly) who drops one liners of poetry every now and then. The film shows how a single person with dedication and conviction can inspire and create positive change that he wants to see in the world. Wishing all the best to the team bearing Ambedkar’s picture and wearing the jersey saying ‘say no to caste’.

            Following this, films with less known subjects such as unpaid women servants of India, the art of weaving and the life of people in Dhadkai village in Jammu and Kashmir etc. Here’s another one. One documentary was made by a director from Kerala, which discussed the topic of milk banks. He was actually present during the screening and even answered many questions. Now, milk banks act as a service where human milk is collected, stored, sterilised and made available for newborns. Admittedly, many of us were not even aware of such a service existing or how it works. The documentary also aimed to break several stigmas surrounding milk banks. The initiative taken by the director and more importantly, the donors are indeed admirable.

Before I conclude, I would like to add that one just cannot ignore the impact these documentaries can have in society. The films shown were inspiring, thought provoking and more importantly made for creating positive change.  As it is said, ‘not all heroes wear capes’.  

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