The Centre for Information Education Development Studies (CIEDS) Collective will soon organise a memorial event to pay tributes to Chalam Bennurkar, a pioneer of documentary film making in Karnataka, who passed away recently.
Film societies are also planning to hold a festival of documentaries made by him. The 62-year-old filmmaker was found dead at a pond in Bagur, Chitradurga district.
He had gone missing for a few days and his wife Kalpana had filed a missing person complaint.
Chalam’s Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal (Children of Mini Japan), a Tamil documentary on labour conditions in Sivakashi, had won Golden Dove award at International Leipzig Festival of Documentary and Animation Film (Germany) and Citizen's Prize and Prize of Encouragement at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Japan in in 1991. “Through this documentary Chalam took images of land to different platforms across the world. He brought value to the serious documentary films in Karnataka,” says Kesari Harvoo, filmmaker.
Chalam had taken up various social issues, especially about women, through his films. He was instrumental in organising film festival on women’s issues in Bengaluru Film societies in 70s.
He was also known as the voice of trangenders because of his documentary All About Our Famila.
He also worked with Amitabh Chakraborty for Bishar Blues about Bengali Fakirs which undertakes a journey to understand Marfat, indigenous form of Islam in Sufi tradition.
He also made documentary on Kunde Habba, a unique festival of the tribal people in Kodagu and Naave Yeravara on the Yerava community.
