Sundance Film Festival 2021: Documentary On Dalit Women-Run Newspaper Wins Awards

New Delhi: A documentary film on grassroots journalism has won two awards at the just-concluded prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2021, presented by the non-profit Sundance Institute in the US.

‘Writing with Fire’ written, directed, produced and edited by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh picked up the Special Jury Award: Impact for Change and Audience Award, among the 10 shortlisted films, in the World Cinema Documentary Competition category, The Indian Express (TIE) reported.

It features ‘Khabar Lahariya’, India’s only and first-of-its-kind rural newspaper run by Dalit women since 2002, started by Delhi-based NGO Nirantar from Chitrakoot in Bundelkhand region. It is published across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in rural dialects of Hindi, including Bundeli and Awadhi. “We’re very thrilled for Writing with Fire and Rintu and Sushmit for premiering their labour of love — the story of Khabar Lahariya narrated from their unique perspective, which has garnered global praise and attention — and winning exciting awards at Sundance,” Khabar Lahariya editor Kavita Bundelkhandi was quoted as saying.

The film captures Khabar Lahariya’s switch from print to digital in recent years. It follows chief reporter Meera and her journalists, armed with smartphones and unwavering grit, as they “break traditions on the frontlines of India’s biggest issues and within the confines of their own homes”, questioning notions of patriarchy and power, investigating local police-force incompetence, listening in and standing by victims of caste and gender violence. At a gender-equity online forum in December, Meera had said, “news about Dalits, especially Dalit women, goes unwritten in not just mainstream national media but even in regional media.”