Tribal Teen’s Movie On Caste Bias To Be Screened At Children's Film Fest

Caste-based differences are deeply entrenched in the Indian mindset. The worst is when such inequalities affect children and hamper their holistic development. 14-year-old Anusha Yanam from Adilabad has resolved to bring the pressing issue in front of everyone. Her short film 'Dosth' is vying for top honours in the "Little Directors" segment at the ongoing 20th International Children's Film Festival in Hyderabad.

Storyline of the movie

Anusha's real-life experiences compelled her to work on the movie.

"The story is about two friends who are really fond of each other. I haven't mentioned their castes but the one from the higher caste is rich and the other is poor. They both are pressurised by their families to cut off from each other due to this difference," says the 14-year-old tribal filmmaker.

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Other details

The 11-minute movie is one of the 14 films shortlisted for screening. There were a total of 179 entries from 30 countries. It will be screened on 12th November at 2.30 pm at Prasad's IMAX screen 3.

The budding filmmaker had collaborated with fellow students from various residential schools of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society to make the film.

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"I didn't expect I'd reach here. It feels great to be here," - Anusha

Her journey

Anusha is the first girl in her family to study beyond class V. However, the people around her soon made her aware of the caste-based distinctions prevalent in our society.

She told TOI how other children and even grown-ups tried to separate them from the children of upper castes.