News Analysis India

Tag: Khabar Lahariya

  • India’s ‘Writing with Fire’ loses to ‘Summer of Soul’ in documentary feature Oscar category

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: “Writing With Fire”, the Indian documentary that chronicled the rise of a newspaper run by Dalit women, lost to “Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” in the best documentary feature category at the 94th edition of the Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest awards ceremony.

    The film, India’s sole representation at the Academy Awards, was considered a dark horse in the Oscars race with its feel-good story of Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women.

    It is directed by up-and-coming filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.

    “Summer of Soul”, the winner in the category, is directed by the Roots frontman Ahmir Thompson, best known by his stage name Questlove.

    The documentary is backed by David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, and Joseph Patel, an American producer of Indian origin.

    For the film, Thompson arranged the never-seen-before archival footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity, attended by 300,000 people in the summer of 1969.

    The “stunning” win of the movie was about “the marginalised people in Harlem that needed to heal from pain”, he said in his acceptance speech.

    “It’s not lost on me that the story of the Harlem Cultural Festival should have been something that my beautiful mother and my dad should have taken me to when I was five years old,” Thompson added.

    Overcome by emotion, the musician said Black cultural institutions and expressions are still ignored in contemporary pop culture.

    “Just know in 2022, this is not just a 1969 story about marginalised people in Harlem. This is a story of. I’m sorry, I’m just overwhelmed right now,” added Thompson.

    Like the best picture Oscar winner “CODA”, “Summer of Soul” was a festival favourite, winning both the grand jury and audience awards in the US Documentary Competition category upon its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2021.

    “Writing With Fire”, which also had its world premiere at Sundance last year, courted controversy a week ago when the Khabar Lahariya organisation, the subject of the documentary, issued a lengthy statement saying the documentary did not accurately present their story.

    It is not immediately clear whether the controversy affected the chances of the film, the winner of the audience award in the World Cinema Documentary category at Sundance, at the Oscars.

    Last week, Khabar Lahariya editor Kavita Bundelkhandi said the film portrayed the media collective “inaccurately” by insinuating that it only focuses on reporting on issues surrounding “one political party”.

    “The documentary portrays our work inaccurately because it shows only a part of what we do, and shows that ours is only about one political party,” Bundelkhandi told PTI without naming the political party.

    She said they were proud that a documentary was made on their achievements but wished it was a more rounded portrayal.

    Win or loss, the nomination in the final five at the Oscars is a huge achievement for the documentary community in India, which has been steadily making a mark for itself in the international festival circles.

    And Ghosh had said as much when the nominations were announced in February.

    “This is a massive moment for us and for Indian cinema. This film is about fearless Dalit women journalists who are redefining what being powerful means, quintessentially the story of the modern Indian woman,” Ghosh had told PTI.

    Other nominees in the best documentary feature category were “Ascension”, “Attica” and “Flee”.

  • Documentary about Dalit women journalists, ‘Writing with Fire’, nominated to Oscars

    By Online Desk

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated the Indian documentary film “Writing With Fire”, under the Best Documentary Feature category during the 94th Oscars Nominations Show on Tuesday.

    Directed by Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, both debutants, “Writing With Fire” chronicles the rise of Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women.

    “Writing With Fire” follows this ambitious group of Dalit wonder women – led by their chief reporter, Meera – as the team switches from print to the digital medium in order to stay relevant.

    Armed with smartphones and the courage and conviction that define them, Khabar Lahariya reporters investigate and document the injustices in their region. They question the incompetence of the local police force, listen to and stand by victims of caste and gender violence, face intimidation and challenge the norms of their society that perpetuate injustice in their journey.

    The other films nominated under the Best Documentary Feature category include Ascension, Attica, Flee and Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).

    Actor Suriya-starrer “Jai Bhim” that was hoped to gain a nomination under the best film category disappointed.

  • Indian documentary ‘Writing with Fire’ wins audience award at Sundance Film Festival

    By PTI
    PARK CITY: “Writing with Fire”, an Indian film chronicling the rise of Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women, has won the audience award in the World Cinema Documentary category at the Sundance Film Festival 2021.

    The festival, which started from January 28 and will close on February 3, is presented by Sundance Organisation, a nonprofit that discovers and supports independent artists, and introduces audiences to their work.

    Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary goes to WRITING WITH FIRE directed by Rintu Thomas & Sushmit Ghosh. #Sundance pic.twitter.com/pypYE7V7cr
    — SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) February 3, 2021

    According to the film gala’s official website, the virtual award ceremony was remotely hosted by actor-comic Patton Oswalt on Tuesday night.

    “Writing with Fire”, which also marks the feature debut of directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, follows this ambitious group of Dalit women — led by their chief reporter, Meera — as the team switches from print to digital in order to stay relevant.

    Armed with smartphones and the courage and conviction one must be born with, they investigate the incompetence of the local police force, listen to and stand by victims of caste and gender violence, and challenge long-standing, harmful practices that lead to injustice and intimidation.

    Also edited and produced by Thomas and Ghosh, the film won the special jury award: impact for change in the World Cinema Documentary category as well.

    “Writing with Fire” premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition segment, which celebrates 10 non-fiction feature films from emerging talent around the world showcase some of the most courageous and extraordinary filmmaking today.

    “Fire in the Mountains”, directed by debutant Ajitpal Singh, was another Indian title to be screened at the festival.

    The family drama, revolving around a mother who toils to save money to build a road in a remote Himalayan village to take her wheelchair-bound son for physiotherapy but her husband believes that a shamanic ritual (Jagar) is the remedy, premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition segment.

    Previously, Indian titles such as Prashant Nair’s “Umrika” (audience award winner in 2015), Shonali Bose’s “Margarita With A Straw”, Neeraj Ghaywan’s “Masaan”, and Ritesh Batra’s “The Lunchbox” have received support from Sundance.

    The Institute was first inspired to create a dedicated Screenwriters Lab in India after selecting Batra for the 2009 Screenwriters and Directors Labs.

    “The Lunchbox”, Batra’s feature debut, premiered at Semaine De La Critique at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, went on to an acclaimed festival run, including Sarajevo, Telluride, and Toronto, and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.

    The biggest winner at the 2021 edition of the Sundance Film Festival was “CODA” with four prizes in the US Dramatic Competition category: the grand jury prize, the directing prize, the audience award and a special jury prize for best ensemble.

    Directed by Sian Heder, “CODA” is a family drama centered on a high school student who is the child of deaf adults.

    It is the first film in Sundance history to win all three top prizes in the US Dramatic category.

    “Summer Of Soul (Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” the feature documentary directed by the Roots frontman Ahmir Thompson, won both the grand jury and audience awards in the US Documentary Competition category.

    Thompson, more popularly known by his stage name Questlove, arranged the never-seen-before archival footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity, attended by 300,000 people in the summer of 1969.

    Filmmaker Natalia Almada won the directing prize in the US Documentary Competition for “Users”, which explores parenting in the age of social media.

    “Flee”, a largely animated documentary about the life of a gay Afghan refugee, earned the grand jury prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition category; and “One for the Road”, a buddy road movie about two friends traveling through Thailand, earned a special jury prize for creative vision in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition category.

    But the biggest winner in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition was director Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” which earned three awards — the grand jury prize, audience award, and directing award — another Sundance record The film follows a single mother struggling to survive after her husband disappeared during the war in Kosovo.

    The NEXT category awarded the audience award to “My Belle, My Beauty”, directed by Marion Hill.

    The film follows a surprise reunion in southern France reignites passions and jealousies between two women who were formerly polyamorous lovers.

    Animated fantasy “Cryptozoo”, directed by Dash Shaw, bagged the innovator award.

    The festival screened 73 feature-length and 50 short films from more than 14,000 submissions and showcased online via its custom-built online platform, as well as in 28 Satellite Screen locations across the US.

    Tabitha Jackson, director of Sundance Film Festival, said this virtual edition of the film gala held amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was as “real” as the power of storytelling transcending all kinds of boundaries.

    “This was not a ‘virtual’ festival, it was a real festival and the power of these artists and their work was what made it so.

    It has been a privilege to help this work meet new audiences and enter the culture with such fanfare, especially now, when breaking through the noise is harder than ever,” Jackson said in a statement.