Association for Malayalam film professionals

In what could be a first in the country, Malayalam cinema is set to have an association for woman professionals in the industry. The new organisation, Women in Cinema Collective (WICC), will not be an outfit operating parallel to existing actors’ and technicians’ associations.

It, however, will deal exclusively with issues faced by women in the film industry, and make interventions to ensure parity for them in terms of opportunities and working conditions.

Noted actors Manju Warrier, Reema Kallingal, Parvathy and Sajitha Madathil and film-makers, writers and technicians, including Anjali Menon, Vidhu Vincent, Deedi Damodaran and Beena Paul have taken the lead in forming the new association.

The WICC members met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday in connection with the association’s launch.

Malayalam cinema already has an umbrella organisation for its actors called AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists), and an employees’ collective, FEFKA (Film Employees Federation of Kerala).

Statements made by AMMA in connection with the recent abduction and molestation of a popular actress in Kochi had triggered voices of dissent from within the industry, for their patriarchal tone.

In an advisory released after the incident, the association asked the actresses not to travel alone, leading to criticism from some of the actresses.