Catalogue Impact Days
fifdh
De Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh, Sushmit Ghosh et Rintu Thomas

Writing With Fire

Image du film Writing With Fire - FIFDH 2022
IMPACT DAYS

Writing With Fire suit le périple de Meera, rédactrice en chef de Khabar Lahariya, le seul quotidien indien mené par des femmes dalits. Elle mène la transition du journal papier au journal numérique, tout en jonglant entre ses rôles de mère et d’épouse. Sa tâche inclut l’instruction de collègues semi-alphabétisées en technologie numérique. Le journal se développe malgré un milieu médiatique masculin et corrompu, réputé pour sa violence envers les femmes. Les personnages secondaires, Sunita et Shyamkali, illustrent les défis personnels et professionnels des femmes dans leur quête de réaliser leurs rêves face aux normes sociales. Dans un monde de plus en plus périlleux pour les journalistes, Meera et son équipe continuent de briser les barrières et de redéfinir la force, que ce soit en couvrant les grands enjeux de l’Inde ou dans leur vie privée.

Section : Impact Days
Pays : Inde
Langue originale : hindi
Réalisation
Rintu Thomas
Sushmit Ghosh
Sushmit Ghosh (Inde)
Rintu Thomas (Inde)
Production
Sushmit Ghosh (Inde)
Black Ticket Films
Durée
93' / 55'’
Statut de production
Terminé
Finalisé en
Janvier 2021
Impact Statement
The film becomes a tool to spotlight the endangering of free speech in India’s shrinking democracy, inspiring global civil action with a focus on supporting independent media, artists and journalists. The film is able to amplify the work of independent media institutions and journalists working across India and raise their profile/ strengthen their work. Create global networks for independent news outlets (including Khabar Lahariya) in India - speaking opportunities/ strategic partnerships/ awards/ commissioned work. A recent example: The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) announced Khabar Lahariya as a recipient of their 2021 Courage in Journalism Award. KL received this award from Christiane Amanpour at an event in Washington DC. The award was proposed on our Good Pitch table in 2018. IWMF watched Writing With Fire, read about this Washington Post review and reached out to us to connect to KL to review their work. All this added momentum to their decision to confer the award this year.
We would like the film to sit at the centre of curating conversations about the power of women’s voices in a democracy and strengthening self-representative storytelling practices of communities understood as marginalised.
Impact Goals
  1. Dalit women (amongst the most marginalised and oppressed demographic in the world) are inverting patriarchal structures historically designed to silence them. This story can play a role in reclaiming the image of a Dalit woman and what she can achieve.
  2. Shine a light on the significance of the independent media, especially journalists working in a democracy under threat.
  3. Spark conversations centred on caste and race, socio-cultural-race hierarchies and how to challenge them in different societal spaces.
  4. Who is telling whose stories? Representation and the power of the internet as a potential amplifier to marginalised voices.
Impact Strategy
  • Raising funding and resources for Khabar Lahariya (KL).
  • Curating strategic institutional partnerships and alliances for the organisation.
  • Profiling and amplifying KL’s work in international media.
  • Using the Academy awards campaign as a springboard to do impact global screenings and conversations around press freedom under duress in India.
  • Over 200 screenings in India at film festivals, cultural spaces, newsrooms, universities, book shops, journalism schools along with screenings hosted by Dalit-rights advocacy groups and gender rights organisations - curating meaningful conversations that align with our impact goals.
Contact
Contacts principaux
Rintu Thomas (Inde): rintu@blackticketfilms.com
Sushmit Ghosh (Inde): sushmit@blackticketfilms.com
Participants présents aux Impacts Days
Sushmit Ghosh (Inde)
Rintu Thomas (Inde)

Organisations
IWMF – International Women’s Media Foundation
CPJ – Committee to Protect Journalists
Reuters Institute
IPI – Institut Fédéral de la Propriété Intellectuelle
ICIJ – International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
GIJN – Global Investigative Journalism Network

Media
The Washington Post
The New York Times
Time Magazine
The Guardian

Organisations
IWMF – International Women’s Media Foundation
CPJ – Committee to Protect Journalists
Reuters Institute
IPI – Institut Fédéral de la Propriété Intellectuelle
ICIJ – International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
GIJN – Global Investigative Journalism Network

Media
The Washington Post
The New York Times
Time Magazine
The Guardian