Velvet Revolution review: Gripping collaborative documentary on women journalists from around the world

Produced by International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), Velvet Revolution tells the stories of diverse women journalists from across the world — from Philippines to India — who risk their lives and face daily discrimination and sexual harrasment to report the truth.

Fellow journalist and filmmaker Nupur Basu, along with six directors based in the regions the film covers, turns the camera onto the women journalists. The aim is to give them a voice and address the problems they face. The issues they raise remind us that, even in this day and age, nothing much has changed.

Filipino journalists Kimberlie Ngabit Quitasol and Inday Espina-Varona have faced constant abuse and threats while reporting on the corrupt government of president Rodrigo Duterte. The courageous women continue because they believe the public has a right to know the truth, despite Duterte’s repeated efforts to paint the press as biased and hostile.

In the Middle East, Afghani radio reporter Najiba Ayubi says, “If you want to become a woman journalist, you have to start fighting it from home.” She adds that more often than not her reporters reach the scene before the Kabul police does.

Meanwhile, Syrian reporter Zaina Erhaim, despite being exiled from Turkey and later from UK, speaks out to empower the women left behind in her war-torn nation. The suppression of the press in Syria has led to the growth of citizen journalists reporting on the daily atrocities rampant in the country.

Another radio reporter, Moussa Marandata from Cameroon, send hers women journalists to the frontline to cover stories on Boko Haram, without discrimination. She tells the camera, she is reminded about her gender when covering a story. But to her, she is just a journalist who reports news, without any bias.

Meanwhile, Lyse Doucet, BBC News’ chief international correspondent, shared another perspective. According to her, her gender got her access to an important interview in Afghanistan. She has never been held back at the BBC because of her gender, but has heard stories of many women journalists who aren’t sent to conflict-ridden territories just because they belong to the 'fairer sex'.

This is also the first time that Bangladeshi-American blogger Rafida Bonya Ahmed has given an interview after her husband Avijit Roy was murdered by religious fundamentalists in 2015. Ahmed herself lost a thumb and was hospitalised for several months with deep gashes in her head.

In an emotional recount, she says she considers herself privileged despite all that has happened to her and will carry the fight for free speech in Bangladesh by the blog, Mukto-Mona, started by her husband. Ahmed too lives in exile in the US.

Back home in India, the documentary focuses its lens of women journalists in different parts of the country; from the Mahila Navodayam in Hyderabad, to reporter Malini Subramaniam covering the Adivasis in Bastar – torn between the state and the Naxalites.

She was forced to relocate from Bastar due to continued threats, but returns to report every day as she believes it is her responsibility to those living there. Most of the stories she comes across are about the violence inflicted by the army against the tribals, who have no way of getting the truth across otherwise.

The Mahil Navodayam is a group of Dalit women who have empowered themselves to form their own newspaper on the community. They often face resistance from members of the upper caste who refuse them entry in their homes. Many have left the profession, but for those who remain, especially the younger women, it is a fulfilling profession.

Finally, the 57 minute documentary, edited by National Award-winners Reena Mohan and Nirmal Chander Dandriyal, details the massive convergence of global journalist to report on the leaked Panama Papers. For the first time, women played a big role in covering the story on data journalism. From India, Ritu Sarin, executive editor at the Indian Express, a daily, was part of the investigative team.

In Velvet Revolution, Nupur Basu and her international team (Deepika Sharma shot the India portions) have put together an imperative and necessary story of the growing dangers women journalists face. Most will be astonished to learn of the hard work done and difficulties overcome before the daily news is printed or aired.

These women — from Aghanisthan to Syria, from Philippines to India — are the real heroes that the documentary very rightly focuses on, making them much more than just a byline on a story.

Velvet Revolution was screened in the International Competition category at the Mumbai International Film Festival on 30 January 2018.