In a generation of smartphone misuse, there has emerged a group of Dalit women who make wise and judicious use of this technological resource. In just two minutes and eighteen seconds, Writing With Fire’s impactful trailer has the power to charge you emotionally & leave you in a reflective mood. This documentary marks the directorial debuts of Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.
Meera, the chief reporter for this group of ambitious and courageous women, started a newspaper called Khabar Lahariya in the Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh, to expose the illegal and malicious conduct of police officers. Using social media as a voice, they aimed to stand by the victims and to help them seek justice. We see the women hesitate to open the box containing a new smartphone in the first few seconds of the trailer because they have never used one before and they fear that they might damage it.
Working to right the injustice meted out to abused women & mining workers, these reporters work day & night. Aiming to dispel all the stereotypes associated with being female and dalit, they are challenging the dominance of male journalists. They started ‘Khabar Lahariya – Aapki Khabar, Aapki Bhasha’ with no prior experience or knowledge in the field of journalism. They aim to be different from the current mainstream media by showing the unfiltered truth and doing away with any biases & prejudices. These women go out there to be a cause for something revolutionary with nothing but a phone in their hands and immense courage in their hearts.
Talking about global recognition, this film has had 12 nominations under different categories for various International Film Festivals like the Blackstar Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, One World Media Awards, and Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival among others. The film has also received nine awards at a number of international film festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival, the Krakow Film Festival, the Molodist International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and San Francisco International Film Festival among the rest of the wins.
Just the trailer has given me goosebumps & I am eagerly awaiting the documentary for it is a demonstration of how strong any and every woman can be if they decide to go for it.
You can check out the trailer for ‘Writing With Fire’ here –
