Amid internet shutdown at the National Capital’s borders, where farmers are protesting against the farm bills, and concerns are being raised regarding freedom of speech, a documentary film by a Delhi-based duo on grassroots journalism has won two awards at the just-concluded prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2021, presented by the non-profit Sundance Institute in the US.
At the virtual award ceremony on Tuesday night, remotely hosted by actor-comic Patton Oswalt, Writing with Fire — written, directed, produced and edited by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh — picked up the Special Jury Award: Impact for Change and Audience Award, among the 10 shortlisted films, in the World Cinema Documentary Competition category.
The film was produced by Thomas and Ghosh also won another award under the special category for change in the World Cinema Documentary. The documentary has premiered at various International festivals impressing fans through their journey.
Fire in the Mountains documentary is directed by debutant Ajitpal Singh. Apart from this, previously, Prashant Nair’s Umrika, Shonali Bose’s Margarita With A Straw, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan, and Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox have received special recognition at the Sundance Film Festival. Other than the Indian documentary, another film to win accolades in the festival was CODA. The film won four prizes in the US Dramatic Competition category that includes the grand jury prize, the directing prize, the audience award, and a special jury prize for best ensemble.
