Oscar-nominated Writing with Fire wins Peabody Award in Documentary category

Writing With Fire, the Oscar-nominated Indian documentary directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, has won a Peabody Award in Documentary category. The documentary revolves around the only women-led newspaper in India- Khabar Lahariya, and how it transitions into digital journalism. (Also read: Oscars 2023: India’s All That Breathes loses out on Best Documentary Feature trophy)

Taking to Instagram to announce the news, the official handle of the film wrote in the caption: “We picked up India’s first Peabody! For 80+ years, @Peabodywards has celebrated #StoriesThatMatter and reflect the world around us. A privilege to be recognized amongst this tremendous class of storytelling excellence!”

The Peabody announced the 35 selected winners for the year 2022 on Wednesday. Writing with Fire was awarded in the Documentary category. The official citation of the Peabody awards read, “The fearless journalists of India’s only all-female newspaper redefine traditional notions of power in Writing With Fire, a gripping film from Independent Lens about the intrepid team behind the success of the news outlet Khabar Lahariya.”

“The women risk it all in a male-dominated media landscape to cover stories of violence against women, municipal corruption, and religious separatism in rural regions that still don’t recognize them as equals, let alone bonafide journalists. But their passion and bravery in the face of gender and class bias drive this beautifully shot documentary from directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh. The filmmakers follow this ambitious group of Dalit, or ‘low-caste,’ women as they pivot from print to digital in order to expand their publication’s reach from an underground news network to an independent media empire. Khabar Lahariya’s YouTube site now has over 10 million views. For highlighting the awe-inspiring efforts of these courageous female reporters on the front lines of India’s leading issues and for its inspiring embodiment of tenacious, local journalism, Peabody honors Independent Lens: Writing with Fire.”

Writing with Fire created history by becoming the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film in 2022. It lost the Oscar to ‘Summer of Soul’ (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)’. Writing with Fire had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won two major awards- the Audience Award and the Special Jury Award.