Film fest raises toast to women, Kerala hopes industry follows

WHEN SHE SET out to direct her first feature film, Adithya Baby had an army of university classmates as her cast and crew.

- FAIZAL KHAN Thiruvananthapuram, December 21

The familiarity of friends ensured that the production of Kamadevan Nakshatram Kandu (Cupid Saw the Star), the Malayalam language film screened at the just-concluded International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), was a safe workplace for everyone. Many more women professionals in the Malayalam film industry are hoping it would be the same for them too, even without a close circle of friends.

The 29th edition of IFFK (December 13-20), held after the much-delayed release of the Justice Hema Committee report on sexual harassment in the film industry in Kerala three months ago, has kept the focus on women in cinema with a female-centric programming this year. However, the symbolic gesture does little to assuage the grieved. With justice for the unnamed survivors in the redacted report still undelivered, calls for action against the perpetrators of violence against women in Malayalam cinema are getting louder in the southern state.