Dreaming of Words[1] is a 2021 Indian documentary film[2] directed and produced by Nandan.[3] Dreaming of Words has received numerous accolades including National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film (2020)[4] awarded to Nandan as both director and producer at the 68th National Film Awards.[5][6] The documentary traces the life and work of Njattyela Sreedharan,[7] a fourth standard drop-out,[8] who compiles a dictionary connecting four major Dravidian languages.[9]
| Dreaming of Words | |
|---|---|
Movie poster for Dreaming of Words
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| Directed by | Nandan |
| Produced by | Nandan |
| Cinematography | Surjith S Pai |
| Edited by | Sreevalsan RS |
| Music by | Arun Alat |
Release dates |
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Running time | 60 minutes |
| Country | India[1] |
| Languages | Malayalam, Tamil |
Njattyela Sreedharan, a fourth standard drop-out, compiles a dictionary connecting four major Dravidian languages.[10] Travelling across four states and doing extensive research, he spent twenty five years[11] making the multilingual dictionary. This unique dictionary offers a comparative study of Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.[12] Dreaming of Words traces Sreedharan's life, work, love for languages and the struggles to get the dictionary published.[13] The film also explores the linguistic and cultural diversity in India.[14]
The documentary follows Njattyela Sreedharan's unparalleled determination to compile his 'Dictionary of Four Dravidian Languages'.[15] The film also features P. K. Pokker,[16] former director of Kerala Bhasha Institute, who decided to publish Sreedharan's Tamil - Malayalam dictionary in 2012[17] and K. P. Mohanan, the secretary[18]ofKerala Sahitya Akademi.
Also featured in the documentary are Seetharam Master,[16] N. P. Usha and K. K. Ramesh.
Dreaming of Words had its world premiere at the International Mother Language Day Celebrations[19] 2021 organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and the Ministry of Education (India) in partnership with UNESCO. This was followed by an international premiere as part of Kultura Con[20] at the Brazilian Cultural CenterinAngola. Dreaming of Words had its American premiere at the Micheaux Film Festival on 26 April 2021. The documentary was screened at the annual convention of the Modern Language Association[21] and the annual conference of the Linguistic Society of America[22] in January 2022.
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