This film is part of Free
Fighting Leprosy in India The Work of Dichpali
The work of southern India’s remarkable lepers' home, founded by Dr Isabel Kerr
Overview
Scottish doctor and missionary Dr Isabel Kerr (1875-1932) pioneered treatment for leprosy in India, opening a home for lepers at Dichpali, north of Hyderabad. It is estimated that of the 2,800 patients Dr Kerr treated, up to half saw the disease arrested. Leprosy patients came to Dichpali from all over India. We see two groups of patients: the first are confident people, without any deformities. In the second, patients are scratching their bodies, and a nun is treating them with medicine.
You are inevitably reminded of the leper's pit in The Tiger of Eschnapur/The Indian Tomb (1921), directed by Joe May and remade by Fritz Lang in 1959. It is a place of revulsion and terror, from which the leper-prisoners try to escape. But Dichpali was a sunny place where lepers from all over India came to be cured. Dichpali's maxim is faith, oil and work. So, all patients do three hours' manual labour daily, including gardening and weaving their own clothes. They get medical treatment including oils. Sports are also encouraged; the girls confidently wear a blouse and knee-high shorts for sports - remarkably bold. The film ends with a visit to the Isabel Kerr Memorial Church. Meenakshi Shedde
Related
Villenour. (French India: Territory of Pondicherry) Villenour. (French India: Territory of Pondicherry)
Travelogue 1914 4 mins Silent
Gorgeously dreamlike colour images of (then) French India – present-day Puducherry
Uti 1925 Uti 1925
Amateur film 1925 15 mins Silent
Snapshots of colonial life around Tamil Nadu, plus a visit to the Toda tribe
Sir John Laing Missionary Films Madras & Ceylon Sir John Laing Missionary Films Madras & Ceylon
Amateur film 1947 18 mins Silent
Rare amateur footage of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka
Houseboating in Waltair Houseboating in Waltair
Amateur film 1926 13 mins Silent
The Uzielli family takes to the water in Visakhapatnam, southern India
Dancers at Trivandrum Gopinath Dancers at Trivandrum Gopinath
Amateur film 1946 7 mins Silent
Kathakali performance featuring the great Indian dancer Guru Gopinath, filmed in remarkable colour by ‘envoy of the Raj’ Clarmont Skrine
Cochin and Malarax Cochin and Malarax
Amateur film 1930 18 mins Silent
Amateur film capturing life and buildings in and around Kochi, in Kerala, south-west India.
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.