Writing with Fire (2021)

Directed by: Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas | 94 minutes | documentary | Starring: Meera Devi, Shyamkali Devi, Suneeta Prajapati

The subject of ‘Writing with Fire’ is extremely compelling and urgent: in 2002 a group of women from the former Dalit, the lowest caste in India, started a weekly newspaper, Khabar Lahariya (Waves of News) in the Uttar Pradesh region of northern India. ). Ten years later, Khabar Lahariya has grown into a newspaper with a circulation of 6,000 and is estimated to have a readership of around 80,000. Another year later, the newspaper got a website and in 2016 – when ‘Writing with Fire’ starts – the newspaper will switch to ‘digital’, which greatly expanded its reach. But does such an interesting premise also make for an interesting film?

That is only partly true. We see Meera, chief reporter. She interviews a woman who has been raped no less than six times by a group of men within a month. She then contacts the local police, who refused to take the report and even threatened and mistreated the couple. Meera points out what attracts her to journalism: it is the core of democracy and journalists can convey the demands of the citizens to the government. So far, so interesting.

When it is announced in the editorial office that there is a new working method for the entire team – digital reporting – there is a division within the group of women. Meera is very enthusiastic and recognizes the importance of social media. “We have to keep up with the times to stay ahead of the competition.” But there are also journalists who have never touched a mobile phone, afraid of breaking it. The management gives telephone lessons, but later in ‘Writing with Fire’ we see that Shyamkali has no idea how she sends an email with such a device. The English alphabet is still abracadabra to her.

A journalist we also follow is the single Suneeta. As a ten-year-old girl, she worked in the mine herself, but now she likes to expose illegal mining. At the risk of his own life. It’s here that ‘Writing with Fire’ first feels scripted: a man she’s filming demands that she stop filming, he wants them to talk first, while the filmmakers’ camera continues to roll. Nevertheless, Suneeta is undoubtedly intrepid, she fends off violent men and although her mischievous face might suggest otherwise, she stands for what she believes in: bribery is out of the question and “we decide if it’s front page news, not you. ”

Still, that scene leaves a strange taste in the mouth and that is amplified in the scenes at Meera’s home. Her husband Shivbaran is disdainful of his wife’s work, although they have been living off it for 14 years. “I don’t think they’ll make it much longer.” He prefers her to focus on the household. Everything is said with a friendly smile and it doesn’t feel like this is a spontaneously recorded conversation.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers are showing the effect that the digitization of Khabar Lahariya is having: when the YouTube videos go online, the number of views and subscribers skyrocket and we get to see the translation of the positive reactions. People also tell us about the effect of the attention that the medium gives: suddenly there is money for care, a village has better infrastructure or electricity and farmers are happy with an irrigation canal that is supplied with water again. That is of course exactly what the journalists do it for.

‘Writing with Fire’ never goes into the business of Khabar Lahariya and that is something you really miss. How can this newspaper exist for so long, where do they get their income from? And what are the requirements for journalists – when you see that Shyamkali doesn’t even know how to use a critical angle, you as an outsider still question the quality of this news platform. Even the seasoned Meera does not ask further when interviewing the party leader of the BJP. The best man indicates that Minister Modi wants progress for all citizens, but she does not ask how the party can achieve this. Also the important topic of the extreme amount of rapes: the interviewee indicates that if BJP comes to power, the number of rapes will drop sharply, but how will that be ensured? Perhaps this criticism is unjustified as far as the journalistic qualities of Khabar Lahariya are concerned, but then it is criticism of the editing. We also see how someone is accused during an editorial meeting that he has already produced three months below the target, but what is the result? The filmmakers don’t answer that.

‘Writing with Fire’ clocks in at just over an hour and a half, but the subject deserved tighter editing and better focus. Many fragments add nothing and feel like a repetition of moves. The fact that this film has been nominated for an Oscar is good news for the ladies of Khabar Lahariya, because it gives them recognition and fame, and admiration for these brave go-getters is certainly deserved, but the film itself is conventional, much too long and sometimes even boring.