Director : Ramesh Desai, T.Vishnuvardhan 7’/ 2004 / Telugu, Hyderabadi
The film ‘Children of the street’ was made in a short time as a training film for the media and communication students of the Central Institute of English and Foreign LanguagesHyderabad.Though I shot the film and gave it the final shape the effort of the trainees namely Vishnu,Leya,Cynthia and Satish in identifying and communicating with the street children in and around Hyderabad is noteworthy.
About the making of the film: This film on the street children in Hyderabad was shot during the summer of 2001 as part a EFLU (then CIEFL) and EMRC student assignment in video production. T. Vishnu Vardhan, a student trainee who took active lead in making this short documentary, spent about 2 months meeting and interacting with various street children across Hyderabad before capturing their story on the screen. Ramesh Desai with his brilliant camera work and overall production supervision presents the pleasures and perils of a street child in a poignant manner. The lack of voice over in the film (a conscious decision) ensures that the children of the street speak for themselves.
T. Vishnu Vardhan is currently the Programme Director-Access to Knowledge at CIS since February 2013 as part of which he leads a team that works to grow the Wikipedias and Wikimedia movement in India. His experience spans across academics, industry (media) and not-for-profit sectors. Over the last 11 years he has worked in various capacities as researcher, grant manager, teacher, project consultant, information architect and translator. Prior to joining CIS, Vishnu managed the Art, Crafts and Culture portfolio of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT); where had spent 5 years in project conceptualization, management and assessment of quality and impact in the not-for-profit sector. Vishnu managed more than 30 projects and funds to the tune of Rs. 160 million. He also anchored SRTT’s automation and knowledge management activities. Vishnu worked as Research Coordinator at Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS), Bangalore where he a) coordinated the online M.A. in Cultural Studies; b) managed the Library Fellowship programme; c) conceptualized and coordinated national and international workshops and short-term courses in Media and Cultural Studies; and d) helped in building academic institutional partnerships. Vishnu has MA from EFLU with specialization in Media and Communication and Cultural Studies.