CHILDREN OF THE REPUBLIC

RAM aka Ramakrishna Dhanasekaran, the director of the short documentary ‘Children of the Republic’ shares his experiences and revelations that unfolded from this accidental meeting with Santhosh. Children of the Republic is an observational documentary about a eleven-year-old child, who the filmmaker with a camera stumbled upon. The encounter soon turns into a series of unforeseen events unfolding in front of the camera. RAM has been training himself for the past 11 years in video editing, photography, and videography by working in many production houses, in India and London. Collaborating with many experienced artists, technicians, and filmmakers, RAM has worked on many projects from theatre, TV commercials, documentaries, music videos and audio-visual concerts. He is the founder of Roam Free Films, a production house based out of Chennai. © 2019 Roam Free Films - All Rights Reserved

After the screening of the documentary Children of the Republic, Dr. Nappinnai was particular that she would address the audience on the need of the hour discussion - ‘psychological issues related to substance abuse and the role of parenting.’ Children of the Republic is an observational documentary about a eleven-year-old child, who the filmmaker RAM, with a camera stumbled upon. The encounter soon turns into a series of unforeseen events unfolding in front of the camera. Dr. Nappinnai Seran is a highly enthusiastic, skilled and well motivated psychologist with a track record of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. She is experienced in providing specialist psychological assessments to her clients based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from psychological and neuropsychological testing. She is a Consultant Psychologist cum Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Meenakshi Medical College and Research Institute, Kancheepuram. She is also a faculty at Sugam Psychological and Research Centre, where she teaches and trains students in the field of psychiatric assessment and therapy. She also works as part of a multidisciplinary team alongside general physicians, nurses, social workers, education professionals, health visitors, psychiatrists and occupational therapists. She is also the Honorary counsellor in the Family Court, Chennai. Dr. Nappinnai has been invited by various educational institutions, private sectors, and central Government organisation like National Academy of Central Excise and Narcotics and Southern railways to deliver lectures relating to emotional intelligence, sexual harassment in workplace, stress management, communication enhancement, self-esteem enhancement and parenting skills and other topics relating to the field of psychology. © 2019 Roam Free Films - All Rights Reserved

In this video, Dr. Shiva Prakash talks about the biopsychosocial nature of addiction as a disorder and its effects on development. He uses the documentary Children of the Republic, to explain the situation in detail. Children of the Republic is an observational documentary about a eleven-year-old child, who the filmmaker RAM, with a camera stumbled upon. The encounter soon turns into a series of unforeseen events unfolding in front of the camera. Dr. Shiva Prakash is a practicing Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist in Chennai. He graduated medical college from the Madras Medical college and then finished his MD in psychiatry from AIIMS, New Delhi. He then travelled to the United States where he continued his education in General psychiatry at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He then trained in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He continues to engage in academic work and presents the same in various national and international conferences. From 2012, he has been back in India as a consultant psychiatrist both in private practice and is affiliated with various NGOs providing care for persons with mental health problems. He has been with SCARF (Schizophrenia Research Foundation), TTK Hospital and the AIM for Seva Krupa home for adults with disabilities in Sriperumbudhur. He is currently actively involved in a research project involving educating the youth and their educators regarding mental health problems and observing outcomes in help seeking behaviors among them. This is also a move to reduce stigma associated with mental health problems in the community. Through SCARF, he is also involved in developing comprehensive care solutions for people working in the IT industry involving education, counselling and direct mental health care. © 2019 Roam Free Films - All Rights Reserved

In this video, Padmini Sankaran talks about ‘If high school students were to view Children of the Republic.’ Children of the Republic is an observational documentary about a eleven-year-old child, who the filmmaker RAM, with a camera stumbled upon. The encounter soon turns into a series of unforeseen events unfolding in front of the camera. Ms. Padmini Sankaran is the Head of School at Akshar Arbol International School, Chennai. She has worked with the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes at other schools in India and South America. With more than fifteen years of experience in teaching, coordinating and training in IB programmes, Ms. Padmini enjoys working with students and teachers, as the programmes allow students to become independent learners. Akshar Arbol International School is indeed one of the few schools in South India that focuses on the concept of ‘enquiry,’ where students focus on understanding and articulating what they have learned. Without the pressure of marks and ranks, students acquire age appropriate skills and strong conceptual understanding across grade levels from Pre-Kindergarten to Higher Secondary and Ms. Padmini is indeed the driving force behind this. © 2019 Roam Free Films - All Rights Reserved