New Delhi, April 23 -- At the fifth edition of the P.K. Rosy Film Festival that concluded in Chennai earlier this month to commemorate Dalit History Month, a few unfamiliar faces hovered around the venue. They were neither delegates queuing for screenings nor filmmakers engaging with audiences. Instead, they occupied corners quietly, stepping in and out of screening halls, sitting through panel discussions, lacking the curiosity of cinephiles.

Festival organisers knew who they were. "They were there not to watch films but to observe," says Vasugi Bhaskar, event coordinator of the festival and of Neelam Cultural Centre, which organises the festival each year. Bhaskar says that these attendees-representatives from the local government and ...