By Jaison Wilson
New Delhi, Apr 10 (UNI) The Slave Genesis is a documentary film on Paniya, a tribal group in Kerala's Wayanad district, directed and shot by Aneez K Mappila.
The Malayalam documentary won many awards including 65th National Award and got international attention in many screenings.
The Slave Genesis is a look into the life of Paniya also known as Paniyar, an ethnic group inhabiting the Southern Western Ghats of India. They mostly live in Wayanad district of Kerala. When migrants encroached upon their land, the identities of these aboriginal people underwent a quantum shift and they eventually became a labourer tribe. The word 'Paniya' literally means labourer.
Aneez, hailing from a fourth-generation settler family in Wayanad, followed the lives of the Paniyar community for more than three years for the film. The prologue of the documentary starts with his childhood memories further correlates the struggles of the oppressed human lives.
As the film progresses, Aneez's camera captures the life, death, and birth of the ‘slave tribe’ in a sequential manner following their tales of exploitation and myths.
During an interaction with UNI, Aneez K Mappila spoke about his experiences and social responsibilities as a documentary maker who worked among the downtrodden tribe.
Why did you choose Paniyar community as the subject of your documentary?
Although the documentary recognised as an anthropological work, that concept was never in my head. Paniyar is a community which is entirely different from the mainstream communities in Wayanad. Though they are the indigenous people and real owners of the land, the outsiders who came to the region ruined their traditions, exploited them ruthlessly, and reduced the community as labourers of landlords. The people who migrated after 1930’s mainly Syrian Christians from Central Kerala found the Paniyars could be used as cheap labourers by providing them alcohol. This led the tribal people to fell into alcohol addiction and associated health hazards. The kind of exploitations that have affected the once largest community in the region to remain in few settlements. I had a thought that the subject should reach the mainstream and somebody should tell this at least myself.
So you have concentrated on the social issues of Paniyars...
Of course, The Slave Genesis is more of a documentation type of Paniyars present life and social problems more than the artistic or anthropological complexities. For instance, as per the custom of Paniyars, a girl and a boy can marry and live with a partner of their choice after they attain puberty. The age and the circumstances of Paniyars are not the same as the other communities. They drop out of school in sixth grade and start going to work the next day to support their families. However, in Wayanad, 20 people from the community were arrested under the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act from various colonies in 2012, for marrying girls below the age of 18. Lack of awareness about the Act and its stringent provisions have led to the arrests. But these episodes always away from the media attention. So I have decided to add this to my documentary.
Where was the location of the documentary?
I have worked on the subject for quite a long time and shot in different places in Wayanad and neighboring regions in Karnataka. If you are particularly asking about the location, it was not purposely chosen. While progressing the shooting, we got many new things about the community and their colonies. In such a search, I've come to know about their traditional funeral ceremony. It was shot at Thirunelli in Wayanad.
The second half is about the funeral rituals related to 'calling back of spirit', could you explain their beliefs
For an outsider, it's a rare chance to witness the funeral ceremony of the 'Paniyar'. So I have added this into my documentary. The main part, 'Penapattu’ (Deadman's song) sung during the time of the death of anyone within the community. It is like a swirling song of the dead sung by a community singer 'Athali'. The intoner Athali takes no break from reciting 'Penapattu' from dusk till dawn.
Though we can say Paniyars practice animism, they worship their forefathers as deities. The tribal families do have a 'hero grandfather' as their ‘guardian angel’ and also a matter of pride of the family. They are deeply spiritual and their culture is very unique. Their traditions and societal codes are different.
Even in the ballads of Paniyar is a narration of exploitation, Your comments.
We may not find any plantation in Wayanad owned by settlers, that hasn’t used the labour of Paniyars. It is a continuing practice. As per the folk tales of Paniyar, a feudal landlord, Ithimala Pappan, had trapped them using a hand net and engaged them for labour in the fields. The word Ithimala (also referred to as burning hill) still a fear in the minds of each member of the tribe. As a symbolic shot, I have included a visual of a burning hill surrounded by dark in the film. If we listen to the Penappattu, the stories are full of exploitation by their settler masters. They’ve been exploited right from their birth, as we understand from the song in which a Master, who requires more labourers, asks Paniya siblings to stay man and woman below the waist. Thus, the sufferings of the slave genesis revolve between life and death.
UNI JW JAL 2003