Seruppu

English name: Footwear
Duration: 74 minutes
Language: Tamil with English subtitles
Country: India
Original Format: Mini DV

Synopsis:

This is a socio-cultural documentary on the lives of Catholic Arundhatiyars (Dalits/harijans/untouchables) of Dharmanathapuram, an old slum located at the heart of Tiruchirappalli in Tamilnadu, a southern state in India.

The people of Dharmanathapuram are involved in making footwear, one of the traditional caste based occupations of a dalit with in Indian caste based society.

According to the Presidential Order 1950: Para 3, by the Union Government of India, dalits or the people from the ‘lower castes’ in the Indian caste system who do not follow Hindu religion (or those who have converted to Christianity or Islam), are not considered as Scheduled Caste (as any other Hindu dalits); And they do not get access to reservation for jobs or in educational institutions and other support mechanism that are otherwise available to a Scheduled Caste according to the Indian Constitution.

Besides, the upper caste Hindus who have converted to Christianity also follow their caste based practices such as discrimination, exclusiveness, untouchability, and at times violence against their fellow Christians who happened to be dalits.

This film brings out the discrimination and struggle faced by the Catholic Arundhatiyars of Dharmanathapuram who also face stiff competition in the economic grounds as mechanization in the footwear manufacturing continues to grow in the era of globalization.

Camera, Script, Editing and Direction: Amudhan R.P.

Produced by Amudhan R.P.

Festivals/awards:

Muvattupuzha Documentary Film Festival 2007, Kerala
Moving People Film Festival 2007, WSF –Kenya
VIBGYOR Documentary and Short Film Festival 2007, Kerala
Jeevika – South Asian Documentary Film Festival 2007, New Delhi – Third Prize
One Billion Eyes Documentary Film Festival 2007, Chennai
SIGNS 2007, Kerala