Dreaming of Words

2021 Indian documentary film

Dreaming of Words

Movie poster for Dreaming of Words

Directed by| Nandan
Produced by| Nandan
Cinematography| Surjith S Pai
Edited by| Sreevalsan RS
Music by| Arun Alat

Release dates

* 21 February 2021 (2021-02-21) (India)
* 26 April 2021 (2021-04-26) (USA)

Running time

| 60 minutes
Country| India[1]
Languages| Malayalam, Tamil

Dreaming of Words[1] is a 2021 Indian documentary film[2] directed and produced by Nandan.[3] The documentary traces the life and work of Njattyela Sreedharan,[4] a fourth standard drop-out (roughly equivalent to fourth grade in American or Canadian schools),[5] who compiles a dictionary connecting four major Dravidian languages.[6]

Dreaming of Words has received numerous accolades including National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film (2020)[7] awarded to Nandan as both director and producer at the 68th National Film Awards.[8][9]

## Synopsis

[edit]

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]

### People featured

[edit]

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] of Kerala Sahitya Akademi.

Also featured in the documentary are Seetharam Master,[16] N. P. Usha and K. K. Ramesh.

## Release

[edit]

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 Center in Angola. 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.

## Official selections and screenings

[edit]

### Film festivals

[edit]

* Central Florida Film Festival[23] \- 2022
* Black Bear Film Festival[24] \- USA – 2021
* Kultura Con – Angola – 2 March 2021
* RapidLion: The South African International Film Festival – South Africa – 9 April 2021
* Micheaux Film festival[25] – USA – 26 April 2021 (American premiere)
* 61st Kraków Film Festival Video Library – Poland - 30 May 2021
* Chicago South Asian Film Festival - 2021
* Washington DC South Asian Film Festival[26] – USA - 2021
* Agora Doc Market Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Greece - 24 June 2021
* Festival International du Film de Bretagne – France (European premiere) – 8 July 2021
* Festival Nits de cinema oriental de Vic (Asian Summer Film Festival)[27] – Spain – 20 July 2021
* Florida South Asian Film Festival – 2021
* Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival – China - 2022
* Atlanta Urban Mediamakers Festival[28] – 2021
* Fiorenzo Serra Film festival – Italy – 2021
* Vizantrop Engaged Ethnographic Film Festival – Serbia – 2021
* 17th Festival Transterritorial de Cine Underground[29] – Argentina – 2021
* Jaffna International Cinema Festival – Sri Lanka – 2021
* Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival[30] – India – 2021
* SiGNS Film Festival[31] \- Kerala - 3 April 2022

### Academic conferences

[edit]

* Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association[21] – 7 January 2022
* Annual Conference of the Linguistics Society of America[22] – 9 January 2022
* 28th annual Midwestern Conference on Literature, Language and Media (MCLLM) at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois – USA - 2 April 2021
* 14th International Conference of the Asian Association for Lexicography (ASIALEX 2021) – Indonesia – June 2021
* 12th International Indology Graduate Research Symposium (IIGRS 12)[32] organised by the University of Vienna in collaboration with the Austrian Academy of Sciences \- Austria – July 2021
* Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society's conference (IACSS 2021) organised by the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society in collaboration with the Cultural Research Centre at National University of Singapore \- July 2021
* World Congress of Applied Linguistics 2021 organised by the International Association of Applied Linguistics at University of Groningen, Netherlands.
* Annual colloquium of La Société d’Histoire et d’Epistémologie des Sciences du Langage (SHESL) 2022[33] at Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, Paris - 26 January 2022
* XI Ethnology days and the VIII Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research[34] at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland \- March 2022
* 3rd Asian Conference on Language (ACL2022) organised by The International Academic Forum[35] \- Tokyo \- 26 March 2022

### Other events

[edit]

* International Mother Language Day Celebrations organised by The Centre for Linguistics, SLL&CS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi \- 21 February 2022[36]

## Awards

[edit]

* National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film (2020)[7]
* Kerala State Television Award (2020) for Best Educational Programme[37]
* Festival Prize for Best International Documentary Film at Festival International du Film de Bretagne (2021)
* Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (2021)[38]
* Festival Prize for Best Poster at the Buenos Aires International Film Festival (2021)[39]

## See also

[edit]

* Multilingualism
* Dravidian Languages
* Lexicography
* Njattyela Sreedharan

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Dreaming of Words: Man who connected four Indian languages". 17 November 2020.
2. ^ "On the extraordinary achievements of an ordinary man". 4 January 2021.
3. ^ "Unique dictionary covering 4 Dravidian languages ready". 28 October 2020.
4. ^ "Beedi-worker-turned-lexicographer spends 25 years to compile dictionary in 4 Dravidian languages".
5. ^ "The work of his dreams, and love for words, awaits a reprint". The New Indian Express.
6. ^ "Docu film features 82-year-old who compiled dictionary connecting four Dravidian languages". DT Next. 29 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020.
7. ^ a b "National Film Awards 2022 Complete Winners List: Ajay Devgn and Suriya Win Big". 22 July 2022.
8. ^ "'കൂടുതൽ പുരസ്‌കാരങ്ങൾ ഭാഷാസ്‌നേഹിയായ നായകന് ലഭിക്കട്ടെ' - സംവിധായകൻ നന്ദൻ". 23 July 2022.
9. ^ "ശ്രീധരേട്ടനെ ഡോക്യുമന്ററിയിലാക്കി; നന്ദനെ തേടിയെത്തിയത് ദേശീയ പുരസ്കാരം".
10. ^ Sajit, C. p. (30 October 2020). "For Keralites, door opens to three other Dravidian languages". The Hindu.
11. ^ "The Man Who Wrote A Dictionary In Four Languages - Silver Talkies". silvertalkies.com.
12. ^ "82-year-old Kerala man's Dictionary is in the four Dravidian languages. 25 long years to compile".
13. ^ "83-YO Kerala School Dropout Creates Unique Dictionary in 4 South Indian Languages". 31 December 2020.
14. ^ "Inspiring lexicographer breaks the barrier of words and spends 25 years to compile dictionary in 4 Dravidian languages in the South of India".
15. ^ "For the love of words, 82-year-old compiles dictionary of 4 south Indian languages". 30 November 2020.
16. ^ a b "നാല് ഭാഷകളിൽ വാക്കുകളെ സ്വപ്നം കണ്ടയാൾ - ഇത് തലശ്ശേരിയിലെ ശ്രീധരേട്ടൻ". 4 February 2020.
17. ^ "Book Store Online : Buy Books Online at Best Prices in India | Books Shopping @ Amazon.in".
18. ^ "Kerala Sahitya Academy fellowships for Sethu and Perumbadavam Sreedharan | Kochi News - Times of India". The Times of India. 18 August 2021.
19. ^ "Celebrating International Mother Language Day: Program Agenda" (PDF).
20. ^ "Festival Cinematográfico "Kultura Con" decorre em formato digital em Luanda". 4 March 2021.
21. ^ a b "Dreaming of Words". 7 January 2022.
22. ^ a b "Dreaming of Words | Linguistic Society of America". www.linguisticsociety.org.
23. ^ "CENFLO | Central Florida Film Festival". CENFLO | Central Florida Film Festival.
24. ^ "2021 Salons". The Black Bear Film Festival. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
25. ^ "True Stories (Documentaries)". Micheaux Film Fest. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
26. ^ "DC South Asian Film Festival".
27. ^ "Somiant Amb Paraules – Centres Cívics Vic". Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
28. ^ "Urban Mediamakers Festival - UMF | Lawrenceville, Georgia USA | International Independent Films".
29. ^ "Films seleccionados para la 17ma edición!". 4 December 2021.
30. ^ "Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival". maduraifilmfest.blogspot.com.
31. ^ "Schedule – SiGNS".
32. ^ "Programme". 3 June 2016.
33. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
34. ^ "Muu ohjelma/Other programme". Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
35. ^ "ACL2022 | Award-Winning Indian Documentary "Dreaming of Words" to be Screened at ACL2022". 8 February 2022. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
36. ^ "CL, SLL&CS organize the screening of a documentary film 'Dreaming of Words' and a panel discussion | Welcome to Jawaharlal Nehru University".
37. ^ "Main serial categories left blank in State TV Awards in Kerala". The Hindu. September 2021.
38. ^ "DCSAACI – A Non-Profit 501 (c)(3) Organization". Dcsaaci.org. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
39. ^ "Award Winners Results 6th Edition | BUEIFF 2021". 29 April 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Dreaming of Words at IMDb
* Dreaming of Words | Official Trailer on YouTube
* Dreaming of Words | Full Documentary on YouTube