All women news organization in rural India excited for Oscars

“Writing With Fire”, a 93-minute film about the women behind online news outlet “Khabar Lahariya” – which means News Waves in Hindi – was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category for this year’s Academy Awards .

Meera Devi, a reporter for Khabar Laharia, told Reuters over the telephone: “I am very happy. But I can’t express it well enough.” News outlet based.

The documentary prominently features Devi, walking through fields, riding a bike on potholed roads, and recording smartphone videos of villagers narrating their issues.

Started over 20 years ago by a group of women, Khabar Lahariya focuses on women and local issues in rural Uttar Pradesh, a land where caste defects are increasingly drawn out and violence against lower castes is common.

“We are proud that our 20 years of rural reporting and hard work is being appreciated and loved by a global audience,” Kavita Devi, one of the co-founders of the organization, said in an email.

Khabar Laharia operates out of a farmhouse and trains local women to use phones and conduct interviews.

The film’s trailer, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, shows them traveling on foot and in crowded buses, and learning to use a mobile phone for the first time.

News of the Oscar nominations drew praise from some in Bollywood, India’s popular Hindi-language film industry.

Parineeti Chopra said on Twitter, “This feels like a personal victory. Congratulations my fellow Indians! You made us all a little emotional today.”

Both Ghosh and Thomas could not be immediately reached for comment. The Academy Awards will be announced in a televised ceremony on March 27.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.