AP farmer-women win award for video film

HYDERABAD: A group of women farmer-filmmakers from a remote Dalit-dominated village of Andhra Pradesh has won the prestigious UGC-CEC National Award for "Best Educational Video Film".

The winning film was one of 246 entries to the competition held recently by University Grants Commission-Consortium of Educational Communication, an inter-university body that promotes educational television for Indian varsities by running an educational TV channel, Countrywide Classroom.

The Dalit women-farmers of Pastapur village in Medak district were provided an opportunity to make the film by the Deccan Development Society (DDS)'s Community Media Trust.

"The Trust provided microphones and cameras to these marginalised rural women. They produced their own images and voices," P V Satish of DDS said on Tuesday.

The group also bagged the citation for `Best Programme on Environment and Development', a DDS statement said.

"Over the last six years the DDS's Trust has produced over 75 films covering a wide range of issues including, agriculture, local healthcare system and those related to women," Satish said.