Director Kunjila Mascillamani is an outspoken, independent woman with opinions of her own on various issues. She had kicked up a storm with her protest over the exclusion of her film Asanghadithar (The Unorganised) from the three-day International Women’s Film Festival held in Calicut last month. Following her protest, the filmmaker was forcibly removed by policewomen from the venue of the event organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. Recently, in a conversation with The New Indian Express, among many things, she opened up about her protest, on how the Malayalam film industry needs to become women-inclusive.
Excerpts follow:
On her protest at the women's film festival in Calicut
Even though I wasn’t surprised, I was wondering how come my film was not on their (the academy) list. My protest at the film festival was a multifacetous one... It was a time when a lot of political developments were happening in Kerala, like, ministers ridiculing, slut-shaming, and calling female political leaders names enraged me. And also the political murders including that of TP Chandrashekaran. Today his wife KK Rama is an elected member of the state assembly. No surprise that she has to cope with male legislators like MM Mani, the former electricity minister, who said that it was Rama's 'fate' that she is a widow. When everyone demanded an apology from the minister, the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that M M Mani had said nothing wrong. So, there was no dearth of political controversies in Kerala.
It was against this political context that I asked the Chalachitra Academy what the criteria were for selecting a film for the festival was. I, on my Facebook handle, raised the following questions on what was the selection process of the films that are being shown at the festival. The films that are being shown are out to the public; they have published the list of films that are going to be shown. Hence, I raised the question if there is a curator. I would like to know who is setting these rules for the selection process. Later, someone said that director Ranjith, who is the chairperson of the academy, was part of the selection process. So, I got his contact from a media person and sent him a WhatsApp text saying, listen I am a filmmaker called Kunjila from Calicut. And I made a film which was part of the Freedom Fight anthology that is running on Sony Liv currently. I didn't quite understand the selection process, so could you please explain what the criteria and selection process are? But he sees the text and chooses to ignore it.
After that, on the day of the film festival's inauguration ceremony, the event was supposed to be inaugurated by the CM’s son-in-law, Mohammed Riyaz. The same day on Facebook, I announced the following things, "I’m going to go to the film festival and when I reach the venue, there should be a guest pass, made ready in my name and I should be allowed to be on the stage with other dignitaries on the dais. I should also be permitted to make a speech in front of these dignitaries. And this pass should also allow me to attend the entire film festival because I wanted to watch the opening film called Nishiddho by Tara (Ramanujan). These were the demands that I made.
Later, I set off from my place and was shooting the entire thing because I wanted the footage and I intend to make a cut out of whatever happened. So, I shot the entire thing and went to the film festival venue, where there was somebody from the academy who said that there was a guest pass ready for me. So, I got my pass and went up to the stage and saw that all the seats were empty and there were papers laid down on the seats which had the names of the dignitaries on them. That's when I saw Mohammed Riyaz’s name on a paper one of the seats. I ripped that paper and threw it away and sat on that seat, and waited there for others to arrive so that I could make the speech. While I was waiting there, the police came and took me away. First, they asked me to sit with the audience but I said I had a guest pass and I had the right to sit there. However, they denied it, warning me that they would have to forcibly remove me if I continued sitting on the chair. The rest of what happened you would have seen.
When the police arrested me, I raised slogans against the ruling party, the chief minister, and murderers of T P Chandrashekaran, and shouted “K K Rama Zindabad!"... I was manhandled by the police. I still have pain in my chest because of the way I was handled. They used force and said obnoxious things to me when I was trying to shoot. They tried snatching my phone away from me. When they were doing that, I grabbed one of their caps and wore it and clicked two photos because they abused me and said obnoxious things about my family.
Do you suspect someone's hand in perpetuating the violence?
So, it's definitely not one person, because this has been going around for such a long time. The thing is, at the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), or any government festival, every single decision is decided by a group of people who are in support of the ruling party. And this affects a lot of people who might not always support CPI (M). Now even if we do so, it would have been alright. A ruling party’s members can be part of the committee, provided everything is transparent. But in this case, nothing is transparent. Like there is no explanation why Soorarai Pottru directed by Tamil filmmaker Sudha Kongara was screened at the festival which was an OTT release. Sudha incidentally watched my film and congratulated me and offered to produce my film. So her film is screened there, but mine is not. It doesn't make any sense. There was no transparency, which is an issue that I wanted to bring forth.
Director Ranjith claimed to media that films part of anthologies couldn't be screened separately at the festival...
All bogus arguments. At the last edition of the festival, a female filmmaker’s short film was part of an anthology and they screened it. And if the short film was the issue, even in the festival this year, there was a short fictional film that was screened. So their arguments are illogical and they don't stand. And I knew this before I even raised this issue. Because I had checked the list of films that were being screened. I saw there was a short fiction film, I saw there was an OTT release as well, and I later came to know that there was a film that was part of an anthology that was screened separately.
And the ridiculous thing is that the explanation for my film being excluded was not given to me. It was given to a person who raised the issue in an open forum after I was forcibly taken away from the venue by the police. I was asking the same question to director Ranjith at the venue who did not answer me, but when a male filmmaker asked the same query at an open forum, he (Ranjith) puts forward this nonsensical explanation. So what is it that when a female director asks him a question, he can't answer but when a male director asks the same question, he readily answers?
Has anyone ever asked questions about a male director holding the power to make decisions at an exclusive women's film fest?
That is the most basic thing anyone should do; to have a woman filmmaker (at a women's film festival). It's not like Malayalam does not have female filmmakers. We have female directors like Anjali Menon who has made super hit films. Why is Anjali Menon not the chairperson? Even if she is not the chairperson, why was she not in charge of this film festival?
This brings me to another question. What voice do even prominent female directors have in such a male-dominated industry or as I would say a 'boys club'. Like if Anjali Menon is not able to decide things, who can? Me?
Not even Anjali Menon, there is Deedi Damodaran, a scriptwriter who has scripted a movie for Ranjith earlier. And both of them are part of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC). When I asked Ranjith why he didn't respond to my message, his response to me was like as if I was just a petty bug under his feet. That was his attitude. And he repeatedly said, "Anjali Menon from WCC was present (at the venue) when this (Kunjila being taken away) occurred.". Why did he bring WCC into it? My hypothesis of that remark of his is that within the film community, which is fully male-dominated and makes misogynistic films, WCC is (seen as) an impediment to anything they want to do.
Do you have any measures in mind you want the academy to work on?
Being transparent. We need a complete upheaval of the key positions. Everybody knows the political allegiance of Ranjith, and who he votes for. Here, someone who criticizes the ruling party will never get the chance to be chair. Is this something that should happen in a democracy? So, we need a complete upheaval of structures and powers. We also need a selection process for appointments in such key positions --- transparency is required in appointing authorities, too.
Whose support do you seek the most?
That's a very interesting question. I did all of this alone, expecting nobody's support. At the film festival, there was a group of youngsters who came up to me and said they were fans of my work. When I asked how old the youngest was among them, they said 20 which made me very happy... to know that I have fans among 20-year-olds. Now, I get support from the youngest and the most updated ones --- the ones who are aware of what exactly is happening right now. People who know that actor Dileep should be in jail, people who have strong opinions on society, politics, and culture....
A lot of people did extend their support to me including Jeo Baby among male filmmakers. What Jeo Baby could lose by speaking in support of me is more than what I might lose by speaking for myself. Actors Parvathi and Rima Kallingal could lose offers for speaking their mind! Hence, when males have a secure work system, the number of things they can lose such as films is much lesser compared to us females. So, I believe men have a responsibility to extend their solidarity. I don't expect them to do a 'Patti (dog) show' like what I did. I'm expecting them to show solidarity with the 'Patti show' that I did.
('Asanghadithar' is part of Jeo Baby's 'Freedom Fight' anthology. It is streaming on Sony Liv currently.)