This is a repost of an article originally published in March 2022.
The Academy Awards began in 1927 as a strategy conversation over dinner. Louis B. Mayer, the head of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, and other industry leaders made a plan to create an organization that would set global standards for motion pictures–from who we see on screen to how and when we see them. The International Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has gone on to greenlight historic wins over the decades (Hattie McDaniel’s portrayal of a maid in Gone with the Wind and Ruth Carter’s costume work in Black Panther, for example). Still, the Academy has been the subject of criticism over how many doors it has opened–and to whom. This is what makes the nomination of the documentary Writing with Fire for an Academy Award pretty significant. It’s the first Indian-made film nominated in the documentary feature category. The directors, Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, take viewers on a journey into the work and home lives of the women journalists running Khabar Lahariya, which translates to Waves of News in English. We see these Dalit women challenge India’s caste system. They train themselves to use video phones to report on topics that would not traditionally receive coverage from the upper caste men who dominate the news industry. They interview survivors of rape, taking evidence to the police station and demanding answers from officers. They document what’s taking place in the illegal mines run by the local mafia. They challenge political candidates. They even challenge themselves about the power of their reporting.
Writing with Fire shows us a group of women whose questions are their armor and opportunity to reshape society. As an Academy Award-nominated work, this documentary gives the U.S. mainstream a taste of the lived experience of Dalit women journalists in India. It provides some context into the immediate dangers that women journalists face. Yet, a few days before the Academy Awards, the directors have been criticized for their portrayal of the journalists of Khabar Lahariya. The reporters, themselves, say they are dissatisfied with how the documentary captures the difficulties that they face. In a statement on their own website, they write, “We have not, as the film would have one believe, been able to carry our caste identities on our sleeves, with bravado and humour. We have had to be discreet, often fearful. And even if we have written and reported from our particular caste identities, we have upheld the right to protect our families’ privacy, especially our children’s, who will come into these battles in their own ways.” We’ve heard about many a documentary that was considered biased because the directors chose to include certain voices, scenes, and perspectives. Sometimes the answer lies in who funds the project and what their requirements may be. It’s unclear whether the exchange between directors and their subjects (who are also storytellers) will influence the outcome of the Academy Awards nomination. What this exchange does do is bring to light the complexity of issues that women journalists have been facing in marginalized areas in India. If these journalists do not take the bold steps to tell the stories, then who will do it? And if no one comes in to tell the stories of these storytellers, then how will we know about their stories?
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RENATA SAGO 