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WRITING WITH FIRE

  • 2021
  • 1 HR, 32 min
  • JAN 7 → JAN 20
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Details
Released November 26, 2021, India
Documentary, History
1 hour, 32 minutes
Music Box Films
Hindi with English Subtitles
Starring
  • NA
Director

Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh

Film Information

Reporting from a social environment built to divide based on caste and gender, a fearless group of journalists maintain India’s only women-led news outlet. The women of Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’), all from the Dalit (“untouchables”) caste, prepare to transition the newspaper from print to digital even though many of their reporters don’t have access to electricity at home. Armed with smartphones, Chief Reporter Meera and her team of investigative journalists confront some of India’s biggest issues – exposing the relentless discrimination against women and amplifying the voices of those who suffer from the oppressive caste system. WRITING WITH FIRE chronicles the astonishing determination of these local reporters as they empower each other and hold those responsible for injustice to account. Reaching new audiences through their growing platform, the women of Khabar Lahariya redefine what it means to be powerful in this timely and inspiring documentary.

Full Cast
NA
Additional Credits
Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh Director

Reviews

“[ WRITING WITH FIRE is] a stirring and inspiring documentary about some very courageous women, who deftly articulate and defend the need for accurate, fearless journalism in the pursuit of justice.”

Alissa Wilkinson
Vox

“The steep learning curve she (cub reporter Shyamkali) will nimbly ascend is one of three tales of personal and professional persistence that directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh tell in their accessible, engaging debut doc “Writing With Fire,” through which they’ll also tell the story of the Khabar Lahariya newspaper, and of India, in a time of seismic change. Thomas and Ghosh have found their angle, and it’s a powerful one.”

Jessica Kiang
Variety

“With steely tenacity and persistence, these women place themselves into terrifying situations to interrogate corrupt police officers and potentially violent Hindu Nationalists, with a deft and skill not seen by many top network reporters.”

Sheri Flanders
Chicago Reader

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