Underplayed Gems

Writing with Fire (2021)

Writing with Fire poster
Directed by
Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh
Genre
documentary film
Country
India
Runtime
1h 37m
Rated
PG-13
Rating
7.3 of 10 from 33 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

The film follows a group of Dalit women journalists in India as they run a small newspaper. They learn to use smartphones and social media to report on issues important to their community.

inspiringupliftingdeterminedgroundedeye-openinghumanizingearnest

What happens

Writing with Fire is a 2021 Indian documentary film directed by filmmakers Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas about the journalists running the Dalit women led newspaper Khabar Lahariya, as they shift from 14-years of print to digital journalism using smartphones. It is the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Produced under Ghosh and Thomas' Black Ticket Films banner, the film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won two awards, the Audience Award and a Special Jury Award in the World Cinema Documentary category. It received unanimous acclaim from film festivals and critics, winning several international awards and critical acclaim from the press. It was named a "Critics Pick" by The New York Times, and Jason Rezaian at The Washington Post called it "the most inspiring journalism movie — maybe ever". In 2023, Writing With Fire won a Peabody Award for Best Documentary Film, making Rintu and Sushmit the first Indian filmmakers in the award's 83-year history to win this recognition. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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