 "Kozhikode to China")
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Joe Thomas Karackattu's recent attempt at documentary-making turned him into something of a voyager, quite like the subjects of his film, Guli's Children. The 35-year-old researcher set out to explore historic cultural ties between India and China, which had been spurred by trade from the 12th to 15th centuries. While explorers in that period had relied on enormous ships to carry them in and out of the two regions, Karackattu traversed 20,000 kilometres across both countries, hopping on planes, trains, and automobiles to tell their story.
There have always been hints of Chinese links in parts of Kerala. Picturesque Chinese fishing nets are still a major draw at Fort Kochi. Oriental pots and pans called "cheena chattis" are found in the state even today. Such remnants of cultural and diplomatic interactions between the nations have been an area of study for Karackattu, an assistant professor of humanities and social sciences at IIT Madras. Kozhikode, called Guli in Chinese, was an important node in the overall links between China and Kerala. It was known that naval explorer Zheng He's fleets had visited the area. Further, ambassadors from Kozhikode had reportedly been hosted by the Ming dynasty, says Karackattu.
In the course of his research, he also stumbled upon mentions of a Malayalee family that had relocated to China some 700 years ago. Their descendents were believed to have survived, but no one from India had actually traced them. Karackattu's succeeded in doing so. He documented the long search, equipped with a Canon 700D and kit lenses. While he will also publish research, Karackattu felt there were elements to this story that needed to be told with a camera rather than an academic paper.
The result is equal parts charming and studious. It is a mix of travelogue and sombre interviews. The 43-minute documentary was recently screened for a limited audience at the Somaiya Centre for Lifelong Learning in Mumbai. Karackattu speaks to historians who note that the Chinese would arrive with the Northeast winds, and wait in Kerala for six months for the right winds to take them back. Everywhere the Chinese explorers went - Africa or Asia - they felt people were barbarians but did not make this observation in Kozhikode, the film maker adds.
Karackattu begins by looking for evidence of Chinese presence in Kerala. He visits a Chinese mosque whose Malayalee manager still retains Southeast Asian features. He talks to local India-China historians. The film later shifts to China, where the trail leading to the Malayalee family is conveyed with fast-changing landscapes as Karackattu moves across the country in various forms of transport. These shots are interspersed with interviews of Chinese historians. When he finally arrives at the Malayalee household, an elderly descendent brings out old ancestral records detailing the movement from Kozhikode to south China.
Guli's Children could have benefited from tighter editing or more inventive storytelling but Karackattu admits he is a novice. He writes, directs, edits and narrates the work. It was assembled in bits and pieces. He practised framing and filming shots in the parking lot of IIT. He edited the footage and recorded voice-overs during night at his office, soundproofed with acoustic foam and cardboard.
What is striking among Karackattu's findings is the care with which these documents have been preserved by the Malayalee family. Conversely, in Kerala, a plaque that Chinese visitors were said to have left behind is missing. On another level, the film demonstrates the potential for academic research to be taken to a wider audience in the form of short, low-budget documentaries. Guli's Children, which has been screened in Kozhikode, Chennai and Delhi, will travel to Singapore next.
