This year’s Oscar nominations are out, and India has bagged a place in the Best Documentary Feature category, with Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing With Fire securing a place on the coveted list. On Tuesday night, Rintu took to Twitter to share a video of the televised nominations. The elated filmmaker wrote, “Oh My God! Writing With Fire just got nominated for @TheAcademy Award. Oh My God! #OscarNoms #WritingWithFire (sic).”

Earlier in 2021, the film that chronicles the rise of Khabar Lahariya – India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women – won the audience and jury awards in the World Cinema Documentary category at the Sundance Film Festival 2021. “It is a historic moment,” said Sushmit about the Oscar nod, adding, “Beyond our imagination.”

Highlighting the fact that after Mother India, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan, Indian filmmaking is back in the global spotlight, Sushmit said, “Independent filmmakers have always had to struggle harder to be heard. On several global forums we have had discussions on why non-fiction is not given the same importance as fiction.”

Rinku said while the announcement is of course a recognition for them, “as artists with an independent voice, it is also a huge spotlight on the modern Indian woman and how she redefines power” She added, “This is the first time an Indian documentary by Indians has been nominated, so it feels like a huge barrier has been breached too.”

Earlier, when the film won at the Sundance Film Festival, Rintu had said, “We saw a beautiful photo story of a woman distributing newspapers in the rural heartlands of Uttar Pradesh. That led us to discover the work of Khabar Lahariya — the only Dalit women-led newspaper in India. We met them at a time when after 14 years of print, they were at the cusp of transitioning from print to digital, which we felt was a critical moment to begin our story from.”

The film that took five years to be made has music by Kolkata-based musician and guitar player Tajdar Junaid. Soon after the documentary received its Oscar nod, Tajdar told us he was “overwhelmed” by the news. “I feel really blessed to be a part of this journey with a hardworking team,” he said. Tajdar shared how the filmmakers had approached him in 2020 to create “an evocative score that highlights the struggles and triumphs of the Dalit women journalists.”

Talking about the film’s music and Oscar nod, he said, “The score that merges with the narrative of these incredible women is meant to inspire hope and depict their struggles as well. This nomination will also inspire young filmmakers to take pride in their craft and sharpen it. Writing With Fire is also a crucial piece of work for the generation that deals with sensitive issues pertaining to women empowerment.”

- With inputs from Bhaswati Ghosh

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Filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, who are also a married couple, are ecstatic as their debut feature documentary, Writing With Fire, has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards. This makes it the first wholesome Indian production to be ever nominated in this category.

The documentary follows a group of Dalit women in Uttar Pradesh, who are the founders of Khabar Lahariya, a first-of-its-kind newspaper run entirely by women.

Reacting to the nomination, Thomas says, “I think it is unbelievable. It is history made. For Dalit women journalists to be at the centre of a story like this that has found such a huge resonance is beyond amazing. It is a huge moment for Indian films and cinema.”

Two documentaries set in India have earlier won Oscars for Best Documentary Short — Smile Pinki (2008) and Period. End Of Sentence (2018). However, they were international production and co-production, respectively.

Writing With Fire has already been winning awards all over the world, including the Special Jury Award: Impact for Change and Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival. “When it opened at Sundance and won, it told us that this film is powerful. It has travelled to 100-plus festivals, picked up 20-plus awards. People’s response was emotionally charged,” Thomas tells us. However, bagging an Oscar nomination is not easy as it is preceded by big campaigns.

For this film though, the filmmakers did nothing of that sort due to lack of backing of any big studio. “The only thing we could do was make sure that the Academy members watch the film,” she says, adding, “You can see the impact when a tiny film gets nominated. When one of us opens that door, it opens for everyone.”

Now, Thomas and the team are keeping their fingers crossed for a win at the March 27 ceremony. “I can’t wait for all of us (including the Dalit women) to be on the red carpet. I hope Covid-19 does not play spoilsport,” she ends.

Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar has opened up on his film Sardar Udham not being selected as India’s official entry for the Academy Awards stating that it’s a “personal opinion” and “very subjective”.

According to a leading daily, Indraadip Dasgupta, a jury member, said: “Sardar Udham is a little lengthy and harps on the Jallianwala Bagh incident. It is an honest effort to make a lavish film on an unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle. But in the process, it again projects our hatred towards the British. In this era of globalisation, it is not fair to hold on to this hatred.”

Reacting to the jury’s decision, Sircar, in conversation with The Quint, said, “For the international audience, it would be a little difficult to understand Sardar Udham, because they don’t know our history of 200 years of colonial world. They do not know who Bhagat Singh is. They know of a particular section of Indian independence. So, it’s very difficult for them to process why this is lengthy, why the director is possibly indulging in this sequence. So, what the jury must have thought and chosen, I appreciate it and I am with it.”

The unhurried pace of Sardar Udham may not be for everybody. But Vicky Kaushal's honest performance makes it nearly impossible to take your eyes off the screen as he retells the story of freedom fighter Udham Singh who avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Almost a fortnight since the film's release, the actor admits he is constantly tracking social media. “I am curious to know what people have to say about the film. I can sense that it has [struck a chord with] the audience. [In an OTT release], the film is not judged by box-office numbers. Instead, people are recommending it to their friends and family,” says the actor.

The rave reviews aside, Shoojit Sircar's period drama was among the contenders for India's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2022 Academy Awards. Finally, P S Vinothraj's Tamil film Koozhangal landed the coveted spot. The decision was followed by a controversy — Indraadip Dasgupta, a member of the Film Federation of India (FFI) jury that chose India's entry, faced flak when he said that Sardar Udham was denied a shot at the Oscars because it portrayed “our hatred towards the British.”

Broach the subject with Kaushal, and he gracefully says, “Everybody has the right to their opinion. We have a jury [comprising] experts in cinema. They made a selection, and we have to respect that selection. I haven't seen the Tamil film, but Shoojit da has seen it and is gung-ho about it. I am sure it's the best decision taken for Indian cinema to be on a global platform. We should now root for the film that is selected, and hope that it brings us glory.”

While the Amazon Prime Video offering is being widely appreciated, many have noted that the film's languid pace may be a deterrent. Sircar, however, says that he wanted to make a movie “as elaborate” as this. “I like things slow and steady; I'm not a fast-food guy. I listen to classical music. That served as my base when I was shooting the film. People said similar things about October [2018] and Gulabo Sitabo [2020]. But I'm happy I made the film on my terms.”

Kolkata: P S Vinothraj’s Tamil film “Koozhangal (Pebbles)” has been chosen as the Indian entry for the Oscars 2022 Best International Feature Film category, reports Priyanka Dasgupta.

The decision was announced in Kolkata on Saturday by director Shaji N Karun, who chaired the jury comprising Ananya Chatterjee, Indraadip Dasgupta, Arghyakamal Mitra, Ruma Sengupta, Sumit Basu, Pampally, AVM K Shanmugam, P Sukumar, Naganna, G Bhageeradha, Vipul Mehta, Ravindra Jadhav, Umamaheshwar Rao and Navaniat Singh.

Soon after the announcement, Vinothraj tweeted saying: “Could not be more happier to receive this news!!! Feeling really grateful for all the love and support!! (sic)”.

Shaji pointed out that the selection process had become “more complex” since the Best International Feature Film was now also eligible to compete for Best Picture at the Oscars. According to him, “Koozhangal” had been made on a “smaller budget” but was a “cinematic achievement”.

“There were no dissent notes in choosing the Indian entry,” Shaji added.