The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlist for the 94th Academy Awards. India’s official entry for the Oscars’ feature film category, the Tamil film Koozhangal, didn’t make it to the list but the documentary Writing With Fire scored a spot in the Best Documentary Feature category.
Writing With Fire is directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh. The film tells the story of ‘Khabar Lahariya,’ India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women, and the publication’s transition from print to the digital medium.
Thomas shared a screengrab of the 94th Academy Awards shortlist which featured her documentary’s name and wrote, “#WritingWithFire is on the @TheAcademy Shortlist. What a moment for my entire team behind this indie Indian doc. What a moment for the Indian documentary community. We are richer with the stories we choose to tell, big love @KhabarLahariya.”
Some of the other films shortlisted under the ‘Best Documentary Feature’ category are Ascension, Attica, Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, The Velvet Underground, and Julia.
Koozhangal, directed by PS Vinothraj, starred Chellapandi and Karuththadaiyaan in the lead. The film follows the story of an alcoholic and abusive man whose wife runs away and he then sets off to find her with his young son. After Koozhangal was announced as India’s official entry, producer Vignesh Shivan had tweeted that he “can’t be prouder, happier & content.”
15 films are currently shortlisted in the ‘International Feature Film’ Category for the Oscars 2022. Some of the titles are Bhutan’s Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Germany’s I’m Your Man, Japan’s Drive My Car, and Mexico’s Prayers for the Stolen.
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