Kerala government allocates Rs 3 crores for its women filmmakers
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The government's decision was made during the its annual state budget.
The Kerala government has decided to allocate Rs 3 crores for women filmmakers. The decision was made while the state budget was presented last week, revealed Finance Minister Thomas Isaac to the media. The government has also acknowledged the Women in Cinema Collective as an important movement.
“Emergence of a women collective has been an important turning point in the struggle for gender equality in Malayalam film world,” Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac tweeted on Friday. “Kerala budget provides for a special scheme to financially support women filmmakers.”
Emergence of a women collective has been an important turning point in the struggle for gender equality in Malayalam film world. Kerala budget provides for a special scheme to financially support women film makers.
— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) February 7, 2019
The Women in Cinema Collective is a non-profit organisation for women in Malayalam cinema. It was founded in 2017 in response to the alleged sexual assault of a Malayalam actress.
Members of the cinema collective have welcomed the government's decision and termed as an 'important'. "It’s difficult for anyone to make cinema anywhere in the world. But it’s twice hard for women. And being part of Women In Cinema Collective has been further challenging. This is being done for the first time in India," Bina Paul, a founding member of the Women in Cinema Collective was quoted as saying.
The collective has been advocating gender equality in the Malayalam film industry for a long time now. They have demanded equal representation of women in trade associations and called for institutional attention to gender issues in an industry which is primarily a male dominant industry.