Two-day Kerala Film Policy conclave to be held in capital from August 2

The Hindu

6 days ago

The Kerala Film Policy Conclave, organised by the State government as part of the framing of a policy for the Malayalam film industry, will witness the participation of over 500 delegates from all over the world and will have nine plenary sessions covering all aspects of the film industry. Filmmaker K.Madhu, who took over as the chairperson of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation earlier this week, said at a press conference here that the conclave will lead to the formulation of a comprehensive film policy. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the two-day conclave at a function to be held at the Sankaranarayanan Thampi Hall inside the Legislative Assembly complex in Thiruvananthapuram on August 2. The opening session will be on gender and inclusivity in the industry, with a focus on building equitable workplaces in the film industry and implementation of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) in sets and studios. Minister for Woman and Child Development Veena George will be the keynote speaker in the session with actors and filmmakers Suhasini Maniratnam, Revathy, Renji Panicker, film editor Bina Paul, actor, casting director Nimisha Haridasan and activist Sheetal Shyam as participants and senior journalist Saraswathy Nagarajan as the moderator. The session on labour, contract and workplace will have B.Unnikrishnan, filmmaker and general secretary of the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) as the keynote speaker and filmmaker Hansal Mehta, filmmaker and producer Miriam Joseph, producers B.Rakesh and Aditi Anand and others as panelists. A session on legal frameworks and grievances redressal will have Women's Commission chairperson P.Sathidevi as the keynote speaker, with filmmakers Sudhir Mishra, Sibi Malayil, Anjali Menon, lawyer and actor Muthumani Somasundaram and others as panelists. Veteran journalist Sashi Kumar will be the keynote speaker in a session on futuristic technology and skilling in cinema in which filmmakers Saeed Akthar Mirza, sound engineer Resul Pookutty, Ashish Kulkarni, Chairperson of AVGC-XR forum, FICCI, and Kerala Startup Mission CEO Anoop Ambika will be the panelists. Filmmaker Bijukumar Damodaran will be the keynote speaker in a panel on creative ecosystem and independent cinema. Adeela Abdulla, Special Secretary, Social Justice Department will be the keynote speaker in a discussion on e-ticketing, film exhibition and distribution. The other discussions will be on producing films without roadblocks, tax rebates, exemptions and incentives to filmmakers, film facilities, archiving of cinema, film tourism, film festivals and film societies. Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony on August 3, while Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian will present a detailed report on the sessions on both days.