The film highlights the struggles of Devadasis and has won awards at Impact Docs and the Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival.
BELAGAVI: ‘God’s Wives Men’s Slaves’, a documentary movie highlighting the plights of Devadasis, directed by
Poornima Ravi
, will be screened in the
Suvarna Vidhana Soudha
(SVS) during the winter session.
The Speaker, UT Khadar, was allowed to screen the documentary at the Banquet Hall during lunchtime on December 10.
This documentary movie was already screened in universities of many states and abroad and received huge applause. Recently, it received the Impact Docs Award in the USA and a prestigious award at the Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival in the USA.
The movie also received special appreciation at the 14th Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival 2024 in New Delhi.
Originally from Uppinangadi in Puttur taluk of Mangaluru district, Poornima directed this documentary movie under the banner of Poorvi Productions to pursue her PhD, being a research scholar at Mangalore University.
The
Devadasi system
was prevalent for centuries, especially in some of the South Indian states, particularly Maharashtra, Karnataka, and some parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The state govt banned this social cult in 1987. Many govt agencies and NGOs have been working for the eradication of the Devadasi system but still have not achieved complete success.
Thousands of women, especially from financially and socially backward communities, have been suffering from the brutality of the system for decades.
Speaking to the TOI, Poornima Ravi expressed her gratitude towards the Speaker for allowing her to screen the movie in the SVS during the winter session. “I interacted with many Devadasis during my project to understand their plights, and I brought them to the documentary. I got the help of Karnataka Rajya Devadasi Mahila Vimochana Sangh for the same,” she said.