Malayalam cinema rocked by sexual abuse allegations, filmmakers propose new ‘progressive’ body

The Hema Committee report, released last month, detailed the existence of rampant sexual misconduct in the Malayalam film industry, and of a power group that controls the industry.

In the wake of the report’s release, a series of sexual misconduct allegations came up against several well-known actors and filmmakers, and led to the resignation of the entire leadership of the powerful actors’ body, Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).

The film professionals calling for the new film body said the industry was, to a certain extent, still continuing with outdated systems and ways of functioning.

“There are no laid down norms, and we are often made to work in situations that are less progressive. When compared to other industries in the modern times, our area of functioning falls much behind. Hence, a new organisation, which will bring in a new film culture, is essential,” they said.

They talked of the need for creating places of work “where the rights of every person are protected”.

“The new organisation, which has to be formed on the values of moral responsibility, modernisation and empowering employees, should work towards creating a fair and equitable place of work,” the film professionals said in their note.

Meanwhile, the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure the privacy of witnesses who deposed before the Justice Hema Committee.

The WCC raised the concern regarding this after the unredacted copy of the Hema Committee report was handed over to a special police team, as per a High Court directive.

The court had last week directed police to “go through the entire report and take action if any offences are made out in the report”.

In an open letter to the Chief Minister, the WCC said that after the entire report was handed over to the Special Investigation Team, confidential statements of the women have come out in the media in violation of the court’s directive.

If the statements of witnesses are out in the media, that will lead to a situation in which people can identify the witnesses, the collective said.