We’re an ad film production house and in the past few months we’ve been asked why we still do documentaries. Why that genre of all, why not anything else? So we thought we must take the time to throw light on our documentary, The Unsung. The story behind it, why STOM Productions, an ad film production house is passionate about documentaries and why we’re self funding these projects.
Well, first things first, documentaries are our way to connect to the real world and give back to society. Films are a powerful tool to bring truths to the forefront and when we tell stories of individuals, of communities, their issues, their realities that are seldom heard or lost in the multitude of voices, we believe in some tiny way we’re making a small change. Allowing people to empathise, change their ways, act and more importantly be aware of their surroundings. It also keeps us grounded despite the many altered, fabricated ideologies that are pushed our way and fed into our conscious mind. They say the truth sets you free and this our medium of telling the truth.
The Unsung was one such project that not just spoke to us on several levels, on a community that was grappling against the tides of modernisation and westernisation but it showed us how when the majority looks away, the lesser heard minorities not just dwindle but suffer as they do. It also speaks of our government, what must be done for our tribes, how we can learn from them and how important it is to look at them as an independent autonomous unit that is capable and functional in a way different from ours. The Unsung is just a little eye opener of what is happening to thousand other tribes in this country while we, in a place of privilege turn a blind eye to anything that does not affect us, all the while these voices are either crushed or ignored.
To give you a brief summary - The Unsung is a film on a dying tribe on the coastal region of Karnataka -- the Halakki Vokkaliga. This once culturally rich tribe with a treasure trove of folk songs, passed down orally from generations is now grappling against the tide of modernisaton, with only a handful of old ladies who identify with the tribe, their traditions and cultures. With the passing of these few old women, their very culture fades away.
The film touches on the struggles of the tribe, the clash between modernisation and their culture, the fight to keep their forests alive and the painstakingly long battle to be included in the Scheduled Tribe list in India. The Halakki Vokkaliga's story is a reflection of several hundred other tribes going through drastic changes in lifestyle, losing bits of their identity amidst the growth and development in the country. Their day to day battles on several fronts go unheard, unnoticed.
It is a record of not just a fading tribe but the fading diversity of India, as the country loses forgotten tribes living on the fringes of society.
This film is an unsung story of the last of the singing tribe, as they perish.
Currently the film has been nominated for 23 film festivals worldwide and is still doing the rounds. It has been screened in over 8 countries and has won 3 awards. In every screening we always find a few tribals themselves who come back to us and say hey! I saw this transition, this process of acculturation and now we’ve lost our identity completely, may be I can do my bit to revive it or we get people who belong to a tribe say, “I could relate, I feel this is what my community is going through.” That further highlights the very fact that this is the truth of so many others in this country. While we cannot promise change, we can hope for it. And screening after screening our hope only gets stronger.
You can watch the film on https://vimeo.com/ondemand/theunsung/
