Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Warning: this review deals with sensitive subject matters involving violence of all sorts towards women. Reader discretion is advised.

The Academy Awards are rarely an indication of what you should watch that has yet to come out, because a majority of the nominees have already been released in theatres or for home viewing. However, there are a few occasions where a nomination can spotlight a film of tomorrow (given certain film festival or release protocols), and this is the ultimate form of promotion. There isn’t a film that could use the spreading of this word more than the noble and powerful Writing With Fire: a documentation of a female Dalit newspaper — Khabar Lahariya — and the conversion from print to digital journalism. While the team makes the leap, we also see some of the uphill battles they have to face, ranging from rampant misogyny to suffocating politics. The ability to reach more readers is a must for a team that wishes to promote balance and honesty, especially when nearly each and every story they take on is a tribulation working against them.

I will say that Writing With Fire brought my blood to a boil whilst watching, but I say that with the best intentions possible. Seeing the kinds of atrocities they had to face really upset me to the point of seeing red, but that’s what documentaries can do: they can unveil just how bad some circumstances really are. To see that crimes like rape are treated without the seriousness that they deserve was just unreal. It’s during times like this that you realize that Writing With Fire has two different motives. Not only are the stories of Khabar Lahariya being represented by the processes that we see, but they’re being presented as-is in this film: how does the team deal with certain subject matters? What lengths are taken to avoid the constant silencing by powerful men? Writing With Fire is a news piece in and of itself: the full picture of what it’s like to be a woman and a purveyor of the truth in a hostile industry full of money-fueled agendas and lies.

At the end of the day, we’re wanting to watch Khabar Lahariya succeed, and it’s the inclusion of the triumphs and perseverance in Writing With Fire that keeps it balanced and liberating. It’s all in the name of the feature: this team takes the negative energy forced against them and converts it into the fuel to concoct new articles. It’s really sad to see how used to these backlashes and toxicities that the staff are when Writing With Fire starts, because you know they’ve had to deal with this nonsense for far too long. I’m hoping that Writing With Fire spreads awareness and Khabar Lahariya’s name everywhere. The film may be one of the last to be released of the Academy Awards nominees, but it has all the right motives and ingredients to warrant a spot amidst the films that have been promoted and sold left right and centre to be loved by the committee. Writing With Fire gets by with pure authenticity: it doesn’t need a single ounce of anything extra to be felt. You will be shocked, but you will also stare in the face of endurance.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.