The draft of Malayalam film policy is to be presented in the Conclave in August

film set. Representative image (file)

The draft of a very delayed policy for the Malayalam film industry will be presented in the state government’s film Conclave for the possibility and discussions and amendments of being held in the first week of August. According to sources, which are part of the committee, a total of 75 meetings have been held with various stakeholders in the industry as part of the efforts to prepare the policy. Currently, 17 states have prepared film policies.

The meetings lacked formal recognition as one of the major issues raised by various stakeholders, due to which there are no rules for controlling most activities in the Malayalam film industry. Following the discussions, the Film Policy Panel underlined the thematic fields about issues taking care of by various government departments.

The major thematic fields will be related to gender and working conditions in the industry about the issues handled by the Human Rights Commission along with the Labor and Women and Child Development Departments. These included issues related to casting couch, lack of proper implementation of internal committees in film sets, inequality in remuneration, threats against disagreement, prolonged working hours, lack of women in technical departments, exploitation by agents and drug use.

contractual agreements

Lack of constructive agreements in the thematic field related to the Law Department, a centralized body deficiency for regulatory inspection in the industry and the inclusion of obstacles to enter film associations and unions due to high membership fees and bias have been addressed.

The thematic field related to education will address a lack of adequate funds for film schools, lack of scholarship for disadvantaged communities in film education and awareness training. The panel may have also seen the construction of a single-window online system for permits to provide measures to protect the bureaucracy, moral marketing practices, to protect from cyber hazards and to prepare moral guidelines for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in film production for the future. Issues related to film piracy and organized hatred campaigns will also be addressed against films.

Panel formed in 2023

The film policy panel was formed in July 2023 with a mandate to formulate a policy within two months. On issues in the Malayalam industry. The delay in formulating the policy was criticized even after the publication of a rearred edition of the Hema Committee report. Two days ago, actor Parvati Thiruvothu had dropped out after submitting the HEMA committee report in putting policies in the state government with a delay of “five and a half years”. Reacting to criticisms, Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian said on Wednesday that some individuals who are unaware of the steps taken by the government, “deliberate misconceptions are spreading.”

According to sources, there will be 300 participants in the proposed film Conclave, including public policy experts, stakeholders of industry and representatives of states already holding film policy.