Oscars 2022: Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh watching the nominations (Courtesy: @RintuThomas11)
Highlights
- Writing With Fire has bagged an Oscar nomination
- It is based on Dalit women-run news agency Khabar Lahariya
- Writing With Fire's directors shared their reactions
Filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, whose documentary Writing With Fire has been nominated for an Oscar, jumped around joyfully, hugging each other and whooping with excitement when the announcement was made last evening. In a video tweeted by Rintu Thomas, the filmmakers can be seen watching the Oscars nominees being announced, plainly waiting with bated breath. Writing With Firewas the last of the five nominees for Best Documentary Feature to be announced and it sent Rintu, Sushmit and everyone watching with them into transports of delight. "Oh My God!!!! Writing With Fire just got nominated for the @TheAcademy Award. Oh My God!!!!!!!! #OscarNoms #WritingWithFire," Rintu Thomas wrote in her tweet.
Sushmit Ghosh shared an Instagram post,writing: "@writingwithfire.film just got nominated for @theacademy awards!!!"
Writing With Fire is about Khabar Lahariya, a vibrant community newspaper in multiple dialects -- Bundeli, Avadhi, and Bajjika - which is run by women from the Dalit community in Bihar's Sitamarhi district and UP's Banda district. The documentary shares the journey of the newspaper from print to digital medium. It has been helmed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh and was shot over five years.
Writing With Fire has already won several awards on the festival circuit including two prizes at the Sundance Film Festival. In December, it made it to the Oscars shortlist of 15 films from a pool of 138.
The other four contenders in the Best Documentary Feature category are Ascension, Attica, Flee, and Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). This is the first time a documentary from India has been nominated in the feature length category; the Oscar for Best Documentary Short has been previously won by two entries set in India - Smile Pinki and Period. End Of Sentence.
The 94th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to be held on March 27. The Academy Awards ceremony will return to Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre this year.