THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The national award-winning film ‘Byari’ will be screened at Travancore Hall, Park Centre, Technopark, at 5.30 pm on Thursday. Organised by ‘Prathidhwani’, a cultural organisation of Technopark employees, the event will also feature an open forum with Suveeran, director of the film. The film depicts the culture, tradition and language of the Byari, a Muslim community concentrated mostly along the Kerala-Karnataka border. ‘Byari’ shared the national award for best film with Marathi film ‘Deool’ by Umesh Kulkarni at the 59th National Awards announced on March 7, 2012.
This is the first-ever film made in the Byari language, spoken mainly by people belonging to the community concentrated in the coastal regions of north Kerala and Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. In the Ullal region in Dakshina Kannada, people belonging to other communities have also adopted Byari as their local language. Byari language, which has links with Malayalam, Urdu and Tulu, does not have a script. Prathidhwani is planning more cultural activities at Technopark.