Documentary film festival on writers to begin in Chennai on November 14

The Local Library Authority (LLA) of Chennai and the State Public Libraries Department are to host a week-long documentary film festival, dedicated to  writers and artists in the city, beginning on Tuesday, November 14, 2023.  

Billed as a first-of-its-kind initiative, the festival, featuring 30 films, coincides with the National Library Week. It  will cover, to a large extent, Tamil literary personalities  such as Subramania Bharati, Jayakanthan, Ku Alagirisamy, Ashokamitran, Indira Parthasarathy, Sundara Ramaswamy, Ki Rajanarayanan, Gnanakoothan, and Bama.

Curated by R.P. Amudhan, the event also displays  films on prominent writers: Kamla Das and Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, both from Malayalam, and Saul Bellow, who received the 1976 Nobel Laureate for literature. Works of filmmakers such as Amshan Kumar, Ravi Subramanian, R.R. Srinivasan and R.V. Ramani will also be featured.

The films will be screened at the Devaneya Pavanar District Central Library from 10.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.

“Our idea is to woo as many youngsters as possible,” says Tamil writer-publisher Manushyaputhiran, who is the LLA’s chairperson. “We hope that the exposure to these films will kindle an interest in them, not only about the lives of the writers but also in literature and reading habits,” Mr. Manushyaputhiran explained, adding that there will also be discussions on the films, as part of the festival.

To attract the youth, members of readers’ forums, which are being set up across city colleges under the LLA umbrella, will be given prizes for their reviews of the documentaries.  Nearly 6,000 students in 20 colleges have become members of such forums. 

The LLA head is also hoping the festival will spur organisers of district-level book fairs, which are taking place after the present regime took over two-and-a-half years ago, to screen such films on writers during the fairs. 

Welcoming the  initiative to hold the festival, Mr Amshan Kumar said recognition from the government would be a “morale booster” for  those making documentaries in Tamil.  Mr Ravi Subramanian suggested that in future editions, the organisers could set apart elaborate sessions for filmmakers too.