About the Film
Folkstreams is hoping to help other countries archive and streams films about their own traditional cultures and this is an experiment in International cooperation.
This is a 15-minute documentary on the life and culture of a gypsy community called Narikuravar, settled in Villupuram, in the state of Tamilnadu in south India. The documentary has been produced by National Folklore Support Centre, Chennai, as a part of the Community Digital Archive Project, funded by TATA Educational Trust. This film begins outreach on the part of Folkstreams to the folk life of the world. We are very happy to be cooperating with the Indians to show films of their rich folk cultures. The nomadic community called the Narikuravar has been \'settled\' in various locations by the government or has taken to a settled existence, using their skill with crafts to eke out an existence around urban areas. Their skills with bird snaring, hunting and fortune telling have not provided viable survival tools in the increasingly urbanised state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. The NFSC Archive aims to document their lives and is located at a Narikuravar settlement at Ashakulam in Villupuram district. This film was made as an introduction to the life and lore of the people as part of the Digital Community Archive project.
