Oscars 2022: Writing With Fire gets nomination for Best Documentary Feature

Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing With Fire has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards in March. It is the first Indian documentary to compete for the Oscars.

It will go up against Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension, Stanley Nelson's Attica, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee,and Ahmir Thompson aka Questlove’s Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) for the big prize.

Thomas and Ghosh’s film looks at the determined journalists of Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper operated by Dalit women, who report on issues that affect them and their region. The filmmaker duo have also edited and produced the documentary feature.

Writing With Fire had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last year. It is also nominated for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures at the 33rd annual Producers Guild Awards, which will be announced on 19 March.

Last year’s Best Actor nominee, Riz Ahmed, returns with a nomination for Best Live Action Short Film for The Long Goodbye. Ahmed and director Aneil Karia are nominated in the category.

The short film, which was created as a companion piece to Riz Ahmed’s musical album of the same name, looks at racism and xenophobia in the UK.  

Cinestaan Curates: The Long Goodbye is an emotional, visceral response to intolerance

The 94th Academy Awards will be held on 27 March 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Correction, 9 March 2022: An earlier version of this report misspelt filmmaker Jessica Kingdon's last name as Kingdom.