The headmistress of Modella School holds the CD of the documentary. Telegraph picture

Siliguri, Dec. 13: Threat posed by thalassemia to the existence of the Toto tribe is the focus of a documentary directed by a Calcutta-based filmmaker.

The 18-minute film, Tale of a Tribe, highlights the community’s age-old tradition of endogamy which leads to the prevalence of thalassemia among the members.

The disease has become a major threat to the survival of the tribe which has at present 1,465 members.

“The Totos are very conservative and marry within the tribe to preserve their ethnicity. This means marriages take place between cousins too. The result is that many children born from such wedlocks become thalassemic,” said Ajoy Roy, the filmmaker.

“Research has revealed that the Totos have a high carrier rate of 45 per cent. This has put the tribe in the danger of losing their members to the disease. The only other option is to marry outside the tribe. But the members are opposed to the idea since their ethnicity would be at stake if they marry people from other communities. The Totos are caught between customs and ethnicity on one hand and science on the other. The documentary focuses on this dilemma.”

The Totos reside in Totopara, to the north of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Jalpaiguri district along the Indo-Bhutan border. The film was screened at the Modella Caretaker Centre and School in Fulbari near Siliguri on Wednesday.

Roy who has shot directed than 15 documentaries on wildlife and different tribal communities in India decided to make a film on Totos after seeing a wedding last year.

“I have always been interested in filming tribes and knowing their customs and traditions. During a visit to north Bengal last year, I witnessed a Toto wedding. It was a happy wedding and the couple were oblivious to the danger of thalassemia. Many others like them at Totopara are unaware of the disease and the precautions they need to take. This film is an initiative to spread awareness of the issue,” said Roy.

The documentary portrays an NRI researcher who tries to explore Indian tribes like the Gonds of Madhya Pradesh, Tangsa of Arunachal Pradesh, Mundas of Jharkand and the Totos of Totopara.

“A team of doctors from Calcutta had visited Totopara last year and conducted tests on some of the members. The results revealed that majority of them are thalassemic or carriers of the disease. Since then, schools in the area have started arranging for children’s treatment and counselling them on why they should marry from other tribes,” Roy added.

Roy is currently making a documentary on man-elephant conflict in the Dooars.