‘Writing with Fire’ Documentary

February 9, 2022

Indian documentary Writing with Fire, has been nominated at the 94^th Academy Awards in ‘Best Documentary Feature Category’.

Key Points

The documentary is directed by filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.
It has been nominated alongside Ascension, Flee, Attica, and Summer of the Soul.
Writing with Fire is the only Indian title, to be nominated at Oscar awards 2022.

About ‘Writing with Fire’

‘Writing with Fire’ is about a rural newspaper run by Dalit women called Khabar Lahariya. The newspaper was started by Delhi based NGO Nirantar from Chitrakoot, Bundelkhand region in 2002. The documentary shows transition of Khabar Lahariya from print to digital in recent years. The film follows Meera and her fellow journalists, when they get acquainted with new technology whilst questioning patriarchy, reporting stories about victims of caste & gender violence and investigating incompetence of the police force.

Other honours to ‘Writing with Fire’

In 2021, Writing with Fire won two awards namely The Audience Award and a Special Jury Award, at Sundance Film Festival. Since then, film has won more than 20 international awards. It holds a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It is the first Indian feature documentary, which was nominated in an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Khabar Lahariya

It is an Indian newspaper, which is published in several rural dialects of Hindi, including Avadhi, Bundeli, and Bajjika dialects. The newspaper was started by Nirantar NGO, which focuses on education and gender. It was initially seen as women-only publication. But now covers local political news, social issues, entertainment and local crime reports, all reported from a feminist perspective.

About Oscar Awards

The Oscar Awards are also known as Academy Awards. These are awards for technical and artistic merit in the film industry. These awards are regarded as most significant and prestigious awards in entertainment industry across the world.

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