Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Tonight, we bring you a documentary
the Washington Post calls,
"The most inspiring journalism movie, maybe ever"
in the film Writing With Fire.
I absolutely love that title.
In the early 2000s, in the Indian state of Utter Pradesh,
a group of women, tired of feeling completely unrepresented
in this male-dominated region of the world,
started a newspaper
against the advice of their fellow citizens,
and in some cases, their own doubting families.
Despite great peril, they do not shy away
from reporting the truth
and there is no subject matter they will not explore.
In the film's opening scene,
we meet chief reporter Meera,
who conducts a stomach churning interview
with a rape victim and the victim's husband,
and then confronts the police
about the lack of an investigation into the crime.
The courage required for these female reporters
in a caste system is truly remarkable
as they break traditions
to redefine what it means to be powerful.
For co-directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh,
this is their documentary feature film debut
and the response to their collaboration
has been receptive, to say the least.
Writing with Fire won two highly coveted awards
at last year's Sundance Film Festival,
including the Audience Award for World Cinema
and the World Cinema Special Jury Award.
When asked what drew them to this story,
the directors listed the incredible danger
these reporters were willing to endure to do their jobs
combined with their personal lives
as mothers, wives, and daughters.
Thomas also listed a very common challenge
in the newspaper business that they face,
the transition from print to digital media.
As you can see,
there is an abundance of conflict and storylines
for these two talented documentarians
to sink their teeth into.
Let's watch With Fire--
Writing With Fire starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.