At the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) 2026, Ramith Kunhimangalam's 'It Was Here Before Our Time' stands out as a measured, culturally rooted tribute to Maari Theyyam, a ritual form that occupies a distinctive place in Kerala's spiritual and artistic life. Produced by actor-director Rajesh Madhavan, the film arrives at a moment when Indian documentary cinema is increasingly being asked to do more than observe: it must also preserve, interpret and, at times, defend fragile cultural inheritances.
The film's central strength lies in its refusal to treat Maari Theyyam as a spectacle detached from the people who sustain it. Instead, Kunhimangalam appears to frame the ritual as a living continuum, one that binds performance, belief, community memory and local identity. That approach gives the work a seriousness that is often missing from casual cultural documentation, where ritual traditions are reduced to visual texture rather than understood as systems of meaning.
Ritual As Living Memory
Maari Theyyam is not merely a performance tradition; it is a form of embodied devotion that carries generations of social memory. By focusing on its essence and mysticism, the film seems to position itself within a broader conversation about how ritual arts survive in contemporary India. Such traditions are often celebrated in festivals and tourism campaigns, yet their deeper significance can be overlooked when they are presented only as heritage imagery. Kunhimangalam's film, by contrast, appears to insist on the interiority of the tradition — its emotional force, its sacred vocabulary and the communal trust that allows it to endure.
That perspective is especially important in documentary practice, where the line between documentation and interpretation is always delicate. A film about a ritual tradition must decide whether it is merely recording what is visible or attempting to convey what is believed. In the case of 'It Was Here Before Our Time,' the title itself suggests an awareness of inheritance and anteriority: the tradition predates the present generation, and the filmmaker's task is to approach it with humility rather than ownership.
A Producer's Cultural Bet
Rajesh Madhavan's involvement as producer adds another layer of significance. Known to audiences as an actor-director, Madhavan's support signals a cultural investment in projects that may not be commercially conventional but are artistically and historically valuable. In an industry where market logic often determines visibility, the backing of a figure with creative standing can be crucial for documentary work that seeks to travel beyond niche circles.
The collaboration also reflects a growing recognition among filmmakers that regional ritual traditions are not peripheral subjects. They are central to understanding India's cultural diversity and the ways in which local belief systems continue to shape artistic expression. A production like this can help widen the audience for documentary cinema while also encouraging more serious engagement with indigenous forms that are often discussed only in academic or ethnographic terms.
Why The Film Matters
The importance of 'It Was Here Before Our Time' extends beyond its festival presence. At a time when cultural memory is increasingly mediated by digital platforms, films that document ritual traditions perform a vital archival function. They create records that can be revisited, debated and studied, while also offering contemporary viewers a way to encounter traditions on their own terms.
For IDSFFK, a festival long associated with socially engaged and formally adventurous cinema, the film fits a familiar but necessary mandate: to make room for works that are rooted in place, attentive to form and serious about cultural continuity. For audiences, it offers an opportunity to see Maari Theyyam not as an exoticized artifact, but as a living practice shaped by devotion, discipline and communal participation.
In that sense, Kunhimangalam's film is less a simple homage than an act of cultural witnessing. It acknowledges that traditions like Maari Theyyam do not survive because they are preserved in museums; they survive because they are performed, remembered and re-entered by each generation. That is the deeper resonance of a film titled 'It Was Here Before Our Time' — a reminder that some forms of knowledge arrive already ancient, yet remain urgently present.