BANGALORE: Karnataka Lekhakiyara Sangha, a representative body of women writers in Kannada, has brought a series of documentaries on 15 Anupama award winners.
The Sangha, which was started in 1979, has been active in bringing the works of women writers to the mainstream of the society. It instituted Anupama annual award in memory of veteran writer Dr Anupama Niranjana in 1993.
"Twenty two writers have received this prestigious award so far. Anupama award is given to women writers who are still writing. It is recognition of their contribution to Kannada literature. Many people do not know how important our women writers and their works are. When I became the president of the Lekhakiyara Sangha, I conceived a project bring to bring out documentaries on them. Among the 22 writers who received the award only 15 are alive today. So we decided make documentaries on them. It cost us `18 lakh. The government has sanctioned `8 lakh under action plan. KSRTC and KMF have also joined hands with us," said president of Lekhakiyara Sangha Dr Vasundhara Bhupathi.
Each documentary in this series is of 30 minute duration. The series focuses on the life and works of Dr Veena Shantheshwara, Vaidehi, Sara Abubakar, Sunanda Belgaumkar, Dr Vijaya Dabbe, Prema Bhat, H S Parvathi, Dr Kamala Hampana, Geetha Nagabhushana, Nuggehalli Pankaja, Malathi Pattanashetty, Neeladevi, Dr Vijaya, Dr B N Sumitrabai and Prathibha Nandakumar.
D S Suresh (Chikka Suresh) has directed this series. The members of the Sangha have prepared the script and given voiceovers for this series. More than 150 people including the members of the award winners' families, their friends, writers, theatre persons, journalists and those from different fields like art, culture and films have registered their experiences in this series. The documentaries were shot at the writers' residences and places where they grew up.
"This series is an official record of the achievements of women writers in Kannada. Anupama award winners have themselves spoken about their experiences, inspirations, works etc. We want to take this series all over Karnataka, particularly to school and college students. There are plans to spread awareness through TV channels. We also have plans to bring out documentaries on history of women's writing in Kannada and the Lekhakiyara Sangha," Dr Vasundhara says.
A set of 15 documentaries is priced at `1,500. Contact 9986840477 for details.