By Renu Ramanathan
On 14 August 2005 seven NWMI members met in Kochi, Ernakulam.
The meeting discussed:
- The proposal to hold joint programmes with Chetana Media Institute, Thrissur for screenings/discussions in Kochi and other centres
- The possibility of organising state / national events in Kerala
- About having some kind of organisational structure for the network
The members present included Suchitra of The Quest Features and Footage , Beenarani (Asianet Cable Vision), Geeta Bakshi (freelancer, formerly with Mangalam ), Rekha Bitta (freelancer, formerly with Deepika ), Preethy A.M.(Mathrubhumi), Preetha T.S (The New Indian Express ) and Renu Ramanath (The Hindu). Girija (P & T) from Kozhikode was also present. Girija frequently writes in Malayalam magazines and has a deep interest in issues related to women and media.
The idea of joint programmes with Chetana Media Institute was discussed and accepted as a good suggestion. Chetana Media Institute, based in Thrissur has been organising regular events related to cinema and documentary. Chetana and its wing Gargi, had organised a women’s film festival at Thrissur a few months back.
Media women in Kerala are scattered all over the state making it difficult to organise and get them together for regular meetings and events. It was felt that once the programmes planned in association with Chetana got underway, other ambitious projects could be considered later. Associating with other like-minded organisations was a practical way for getting things done, it was pointed out. Friday, 7 October 2005 was decided as a tentative date for the first screening.
Regarding the organisational structure, the idea of collecting a membership fee was floated. The money generated could form the corpus for organising events or future projects, it was pointed out. However, the members considered the structural complications that might arise out of moving into such an organised form too fast and considering the fact that the network was basically considered as an informal grouping, the issue was put off for the time being.
It was decided to convene the next meeting on 4 September 2005 at The Quest Features and Footage.
