Khabar Lahariya Accuses Oscar Nominated Documentary ‘Writing With Fire’ Of ‘Inaccurate’ Representation, Filmmakers Stand By Their Work
The Indian documentary film, Writing With Fire has been nominated for the Oscar Awards and just a week ahead of the event, the film has been surrounded by controversy. Just days ago, media organisation Khabar Lahariya accused the makers of the documentary of representing them in the wrong light and now the filmmakers, Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh have issued a statement responding to the allegation while stating that they stand by their portrayal of the media collective.
In their statement, the filmmakers defended their work and said that the statement issued by Khabar Lahariya is ‘an acknowledgement of the fractured and complex times we are in’. The filmmakers said that while the women-led media collective’s statement comes as a disappointment to them, they remain committed supporters of the organisation’s mission, work and onward journey. Speaking about Khabar Lahariya’s rich legacy as a media organisation, the filmmakers said that a film needs to focus on telling the story of one aspect or another of the whole picture. They went on to add that while they understand and respect the fact that the media organisation might have portrayed themselves in a different manner had they made the film but as filmmakers, they continue to stand by their portrayal of the organisation that focuses on the important work they do as well as their ‘hopes, fears, vulnerabilities and dreams’. “Our film speaks to their (Khabar Lahariya) power and agency both as women and as journalists,” said the filmmakers in their statement.
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Speaking further, the makers of Writing With Fire pointed out that they spent 5 years in making the film with care and in collaboration with Khabar Lahariya while adding that they filmed closet with the organisation and their on-ground team for 4 years from 2016 to 2019. They shared that it was important for them to share their work with Khabar Lahariya first and they did the same in January 2021. Revealing that they set up the first screening with the organisation in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda, the filmmakers shared that the key contributors watched the film before its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and the protagonists had expressed joy and support for the film and hailed it for representing their work and lives. They added that the Khabar Lahariya Bureau chief had also joined the filmmakers for a conversation after the screening at the film festival in 2021. They also shared that the media organisation has joined them in several post-screening conversations and panels about the film and their work giving them an opportunity to talk about their legacy and work with the international press.
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In a conversation with The Indian Express in 2021, the editor of the media collective had hailed the film and said that the filmmakers had shared the ‘the story of Khabar Lahariya narrated from their unique perspective’. But in their recent statement, the media collective said that Writing With Fire has not represented them accurately while stating that it shows the organisation as one with ‘a particular and consuming focus of reporting on one party’. Khabar Lahariya had said that the film has only shown parts of 20 years of their work and added that ‘part stories have a way of distorting the whole sometimes’. The statement also claimed that the organisation had watched the film recently.
Also Read: Indian Documentary ‘Writing With Fire’, About A Dalit Women-Run Newspaper, Nominated In Oscars Best Documentary Feature Category
For the uninitiated, Writing With Fire is a documentary film that follows the story of India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women as well as the story of the chief reporter Meera and her journalists who not only break traditions and norms but also redefine power. The documentary was nominated for the Oscars in the Documentary Feature category.
