“Film projectionists are like candles. People rejoice watching movies that we screen, while we slowly melt”. This quote by Vincent Joseph, film projectionist at Radha Theatre, Kozhikode, is all one needs to understand Viraamam (At Reel’s End), the documentary by editor Malavika VN.

Viraamam, screened in the competition (short documentary) section at the ongoing 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Keralam (IDSFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram, zooms into the lives of film projectionists in the State — those who adapted to the changing times and others who chose to leave the field due to various circumstances. While some recall enjoying world classics from their rooms, one of them becomes emotional holding the carbon rods of the 35mm projector he used to work on.

The 16-minute documentary was actually Malavika’s final year project as a visual communications student at St Joseph’s College, Bengaluru, 10 years ago. “We students had to handle every department – production, direction, editing etc. I was not happy with the final product and wanted to bring it out as a proper work. It was once I started working as an editor that I finally got into the right mental space and could make sense of the footage and make a story out of it,” says Malavika.

She revisited the project, with her husband, filmmaker Goutham Soorya, some time back. “We worked on the visuals from scratch, re-edited it and made a totally new work,” says Malavika, editor of films such as Madhura Manohara Moham, and Vishesham, web series Porul and Priyapettavan Piyush, besides documentaries and music videos. She adds, “A lot has changed since I made this project. Even I have a different perspective about the whole process.”

Malavika recalls that she got to know about film projectionists only after one her teachers, Johnson Rajkumar, introduced her to the world of film preservation and restoration. “I wanted to explore how the technological advances impacted their lives and that’s how I happened to do the project.”

Looking back at her meeting with the projectionists in 2016-17, she remembers how happy they all were to welcome her to their work space. “It was the first time that someone had come forward to know more about what they did and they were overwhelmed. What struck me most was the love and passion they all had for the job. That emotion has stayed with me and I wanted the audience also to feel the same through the documentary. I wanted to bring home an element of nostalgia and a sense of loss, at the same time it inspires viewers to love what they do,” says Malavika, who has done an internship with National Film Archives India and later worked with Film Heritage Foundation for two years.