Penmudra

The movie outlines a socio-political and historical journey of women in the oldest classical theatre form of Kerala called Koodiyattam. It is trying to look into the historical foundations and contemporary changes that happened to the role of women in classical art spaces through the life and experiences of women performers and scholars who comes from both traditional and modern styles of training and different kind of school of thought.

  • Jishnu Krishnan A
    Director
    Dilapidated Well
  • Jishnu Krishnan A
    Writer
  • Jyotsna Krishnan A
    Producer
  • Jishnu Krishnan A
    Producer
  • Prayag Mukundan
    Cinematographer
  • Sarin Ramakrishnan
    Editor
  • Sudeep Palanad
    Music
  • Prasanth P Menon
    Sound Design
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    പെൺമുദ്ര
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    37 minutes 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 31, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    English, Malayalam
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • IDSFFK 2023
    Trivandrum
    India
    August 6, 2023
    Indian
    Focus Section Short Documentary
  • Jagran Film Festival
    Lucknow
    India
    August 13, 2023
    Official Selection
  • 10th Siliguri Short and Documentary Festival
    Siliguri
    India
    October 7, 2023
    Official Competition
Director Biography - Jishnu Krishnan A

Jishnu, hailing from Kerala, India, nurtured his passion for documentaries early on. With a post-graduation in journalism, he has a strong communication and storytelling foundation. Jishnu's directorial work encompasses documentaries, short films, and promotional videos. His debut documentary, "Killimangalam Vazhi," which delves into the history of institutionalising art forms in Kerala, won the Best Documentary Award from Kalamandalam University of Art and Culture. In addition, his short fiction, "Dilapidated Well," went into many national and international festivals and won the Best Director Award at the National Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kerala.
His upcoming documentary, "Penmudra," delves into the history of women characters in Koodiyattam, a prominent Kerala art form. In addition, Jishnu has written screenplays for short docu-fiction projects.

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Director Statement

Penmudra is the first of its kind, a documentary on Koodiyattam that tries to promulgate the history of female characters in the art. Penmudra is a combination of two words Pen means 'woman' and Mudra means ' Gesture or Mark'. Penmudra tries to bring out a historical past of women characters in koodiyattam. The History of Women characters is also the history of women's Journey in art which was predominantly ruled by male artists. it also documents the journey of a group of women who fought and succeeded in carving out a prominent space for themselves on stage. It's women telling their stories of appropriation, abandonment, and their efforts to restore the space they lost in history. As a director, my job was to bring out the story they wanted to tell through this medium. The film delves into the artistic lives of seven women who are both scholars and performers and tries to look into the changes that happened to the art and contribution of women to it.