IDSFFK 2026: Ramith Kunhimangalam on his short documentary “It Was Here Before Our Time”

Ramith Kunhimangalam’s short documentary It Was Here Before Our Time locates itself in the liminal space where Maari Theyyam, the main theme of the film, moves from an art form that brings people together to eventually evolve into a spectacle or public event. This idea motivated the maker to document Maari Theyyam as a tribute to what it stands for until time takes over.

The documentary was shortlisted in the Focus Short Documentary category at the ongoing 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram and was screened at the Sree Theater here on Sunday (September 27, 2026).

“It’s rooted in where I come from. Maari Theyyam is different from other Theyyams in that it doesn’t flaunt the richness of these forms,” ​​says Ramith, who hails from Kannur.

Unlike most Theyyams, the Maari Theyyam is performed during the Malayalam month of Karkadakam (July-August), the monsoon season, often associated with scarcity and disease. Madayikkavu in Kannur, where Theyyam resides, is believed to be doomed with 101 curses. The rulers approached Polla, a “Pulaya gurukkal” (magician/healer of the Pulaya community) who banished the village’s misfortune by drowning it in the Arabian Sea.

Maari Theyyam, also known as Karkadaka Theyyam, performed by members of the Pulaya community, usually consists of six performers, each playing a different character: Marikkaliyan, Maamayakkaliyan, Maarikalichi, Maamayakalichi, Maarikkuliyan and Maamaayakkuliyan. They dance from house to house, carrying the diseases and misfortunes of households in the palm leaves they hold, which are finally thrown into the water. The 31-minute documentary traces the performances that take place during the 16th and 17th days of Karkadakam and explains how the art form connects social harmony and social survival.

Ramith attempts to portray the art form with a sense of aesthetics that he feels has been missing from most of the visual documentation on Maari Theyyam. “The Theyyams don’t follow a fixed path because they are believed to be blind and deaf. They follow the path they like. I wanted my visuals to interact with nature. Other Theyyams in recent years take place on an interlocking tile floor under an asbestos roof. They lack the originality that was there in the past,” he says.

The painted wooden mask and pale green palm frilling represent a cut-down version of Theyyam without compromising on detail. The film is shrouded in shades of gray as an ode to overcast conditions, with rain playing an important role in creating a divine connection between man and nature.

Produced by actor-director Rajesh Madhavan, the documentary oscillates between interviews with various stakeholders in the art form and the performance itself – carefully zooming in on the harrowing depiction of Maari Theyyam, accompanied by howls and screams, and explaining it from a human perspective to a divine one.

A fine arts graduate, Ramith says capturing something so unpredictable takes a lot of planning. “I did my share of research, talked to people, went to places, marked possible routes and set up shots in my mind. We should be one step ahead to capture the events as they happen. Many shots in the film were planned. I envisioned the sequences in a certain way; seeing it unfold in front of me as intended was exciting as a filmmaker,” says Ramith, who worked as director of Madm Palasvan’ Family in Dons Palas’ Porattum.

Past, present and future

The documentary can be interpreted as an interaction between the past and the present. Ramith’s film draws parallels between the pre-Maari Theyyam period and the pandemic-like period. The filmmaker adds: “The shape is visually strange. To me, it even resembles the images of the coronavirus that we’ve seen.”

Ramith also tries to make a Mayan and African connection with Maari Theyyam because of his masked traditions. While he doesn’t provide concrete evidence to support his claim, he sneaks the argument into the film with music composed by Christo Xavier, who is also a co-producer of the film.

The documentary attempts to prevent time from changing Maari Theyyam and explains how Theyyams, as an art form, became more about photographs, videos and entertainment. Disapproving of this behaviour, Ramith says, “There is not much that can be done about it. I have made this film now to show Maari Theyyam with as much integrity as possible before it develops into something else.”

Published – 28 Sep 2026 07:14 IST