Kannur: Leela Santhosh is now busy planning her first feature film. What is so great about it, one may ask.

The tribal woman from Nadavayal in Kerala’s Wayanad district is perhaps the only adivasi filmmaker from the southern Indian state of Kerala. Not only that, she has certificates from neither a film institute nor a formal school.

However, the 28-year-old has the guts to enter a field where only a few women have ventured so far, with a documentary film that is in her credit.

She has several odds to fight in an industry where technicians with dalit or tribal background are almost non-existent.

“Right since childhood I had a fascination for films. The informal education at ‘Kanavu’, the alternative school set up by writer and activist K J Baby, helped me gain hands-on experience in filmmaking,” Leela explained.

The film, yet to be named, is on the unwed mothers of Wayanad, and she thinks this is the best medium to bring out the burning issue.

“A film should have certain element of social commitment, and hence I selected this subject,” said Leela, who has already completed the script. The issue cannot be shot as a documentary as the real faces cannot be revealed, she said. Hence the decision to make a full-fledged feature film.

She made her debut with the documentary, ‘Nizhalukal Nashtappedunna Gothrabhumi’ (the tribal land that has lost its shadows), on the life and rituals of Paniya community. It was shot in 2010.

The film was screened in some festivals and Leela is now planning to subtitle it and exhibit it widely. The feature film, Leela says, will be a tribute to Kanavu, the school that shaped her talent.

“Many people think Kanavu has lost its relevance and I want to prove them wrong,” said Leela. “Had it not been for Kanavu, I would not have had the confidence to make films. It was there that I got to see films and learned the process of film making.”

Leela says filmmaking is still out of bounds for tribal people like her. It’s a notion she wants to break by bringing youth from her milieu into it. “Though dalit and tribal youths have great potential, they are often denied the chance,” said writer and activist Civic Chandran, who is supporting Leela in her venture.

(This feature first appeared in timesofindia.indiatimes.com on February 23, 2016)