Renowned documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan donated the money he received as part of the awards at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) for the rescue activities at Wayanad, where multiple landslides have caused massive destruction including loss of hundreds of lives.
Anand’s film The World is Family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) won the best long documentary award – which brought him Rs 2 lakh – as well as the best editing in a long documentary (which contains a cash prize of Rs 20,000). He contributed the cash to the Chief Ministers’ Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
The World is Family, which began as a documentation of lives of Anand’s parents, became a record of the part his family had played in India’s freedom struggle. In an interview to TNM, Anand said that the documentary would act as a corrective voice at a time the ruling powers of the country -- led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- were trying to rewrite history.
Wayanad was struck by multiple landslides in the early hours of Tuesday, July 30, after a rainfall measuring 572 mm hit the district in 48 hours. As of the evening of Wednesday, July 31, the state government confirmed the death of 167 people, while many more people are missing. Television channels report the death toll as 245.
Whole villages and hundreds of houses were washed away in the rains, killing people in their sleep, burying their homes under mud and rubble. Rescue and relief operations have been carried out by police, the armed personnel, the fire force and volunteers. Thousands of people have been moved to rescue and relief camps.
Among others who offered monetary donations are Lulu group chairman Dr MA Yusuff Ali, who contributed Rs 5 crore, businessman Ravi Pillai and Kalyan Jewellers owner Kalyana Raman also donating Rs 5 crore each. Actor Vikram sent Rs 20 lakh to the CMDRF.
