Malayalam film policy draft to be presented at conclave in August

Draft of Malayalam film industry policy to be discussed at government film conclave, addressing issues like gender equality and piracy.

The draft of the much delayed policy for the Malayalam film industry will be presented for further discussions and amendments at the State government’s film conclave likely to be organised in the first week of August. According to sources who are part of the committee, a total of 75 meetings have been held with various stakeholders in the industry as part of efforts at formulating the policy. Currently, 17 States have prepared film policies.

One of the major issues raised by various stakeholders in the meetings was the lack of formal recognition as an industry, due to which regulations are not in place to govern most of the activities in the Malayalam film industry. Following the discussions, the film policy panel outlined thematic areas regarding issues to be taken care of by the different government departments.

The key thematic area will be the one related to gender and working conditions in the industry regarding issues to be handled by the Labour and Women and Child Development departments as well as the Human Rights Commission. These include issues related to casting couch, lack of proper implementation of Internal Committees in film sets, disparity in remuneration, threats against dissenting voices, long working hours, lack of women in technical departments, exploitation by agents and substance abuse.

The thematic area related to the Law department addresses issues including lack of contractual agreements, lack of a centralised body for regulatory oversight in the industry and barriers to entering film associations and unions due to high membership fees and favouritism.

The thematic area related to education will address lack of enough funding for film schools, scholarships for underprivileged communities in film education and awareness training. The panel will also look at creation of a single-window online system for filming permits to streamline bureaucratic processes, ethical marketing practices, measures to protect against cyber threats and formulating ethical guidelines for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in filmmaking for the future. Issues related to film piracy and organised hate campaigns against films will also be addressed.

The film policy panel was formed in July 2023 with a mandate to prepare the policy within two months. The delay in formulating the policy even after the publishing of a redacted version of the K. Hema Committee report on issues in the Malayalam industry had led to criticisms. Two days ago, actor Parvathy Thiruvothu had lashed out at the State government over the delay of “five and a half years” since the submission of the Hema committee report in putting policies in place. Reacting to the criticisms, Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian on Wednesday said that some individuals who are unaware of the steps taken by the government are “deliberately spreading misconceptions.”

According to sources, the proposed film conclave will have 300 participants, including public policy experts, industry stakeholders and representatives from States already having a film policy.