Rintu Thomas

Last updated
Rintu Thomas
Born
Kottayam, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materA.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre, Lady Shri Ram College
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2009 - present

Rintu Thomas is an Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker and director-producer from India. [1] [2]

Contents

Her Peabody-winning documentary Writing with Fire , co-directed with Sushmit Ghosh, is the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. [3] [4] The film also won the Audience Award and Special Jury Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at 2021 Sundance Film Festival. [5] Thomas is also known for directing Timbaktu, [6] [7] a short documentary which won the National Film Award [8] for the Best Environment Film at the 60th National Film Awards [9] and Dilli, which was awarded Best Documentary at the Jaipur International Film Festival in 2012. [10] She is the co-founder of the award-winning production company, Black Ticket Films. [11] In 2021, she was awarded the IDA Courage Under Fire Award [12] for her body of work. [13]

Education

Thomas received her MA in Mass Communication from A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre Jamia University, New Delhi. Her Master's thesis film Flying Inside My Body [14] [15] won numerous student documentary awards. She received her BA in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College at Delhi University in 2006. Her professional work has won support from various organizations, including Japan Foundation's HANDs Fellowship (2016), Sundance Institute's Fellowship (2018),  Skoll Stories of Change Fellow (2019), [16] [17] IDA Logan Elevate Honoree (2021). [18]

Career

Thomas, along with long-standing partner, Sushmit Ghosh has directed and produced over 150 short documentaries under their Black Ticket Films banner. [19] Her short documentary Dilli premiered at the NASDAQ in Times Square, New York City in 2011 [20] and won 22 international awards including 10 Best Short Documentary Awards. Films directed by Thomas has been screened at several top-tier international film festivals and global platforms including the United Nations Climate Change Conference and Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. Her work has been profiled by The New York Times, Washington Post, [21] Time Magazine, [22] The Atlantic, [23] The Guardian, [24] The Financial Times, [25] Le Monde, The Hollywood Reporter, [26] [27] [28] Variety, [29] [30] Deadline, [31] [32] [33] No Film School, [34] The Asahi Shimbun among others.

Thomas serves as a mentor for several international film labs and has served as a jury member for Irish Film & Television Academy Awards, International Documentary Association Awards, Points North Fellowship [35] International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Academy, IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund, Alternativa Film Awards, [36] [37] UNESCO film programme for young adults.

Thomas' first feature length documentary Writing With Fire, premiered on 29 January 2021 in the Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema Documentary Competition. [38] One of the first reviews was The Washington Post describing it as "The most inspiring journalism movie – maybe ever". [39] Indiewire's Kate Erbland in her review of the documentary wrote, "Armed with eagle-eyed filmmakers and compelling subjects, the film deftly blends the (inextricably linked) personal and professional sides of the journalists' work, offering up a wide-ranging look at a vital outlet with so many stories to tell…the result is profound". [40]

It was the first Indian film to win a Peabody Award and the jury described the winner as one of "the most compelling and empowering stories released in 2022 across broadcasting and streaming media". [41] The New York Times chose it as a Critics' Pick [42] and the film obtained nominations for Best Documentary from the Grierson Awards, [43] International Documentary Association Awards [44] and Producers Guild of America Awards. [45] Along with winning 40 awards, it is India's first documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award. [46] In India, the documentary film premiered at the Dharamshala International Film Festival [47] [48] on 5 November 2022.

Following the New York premiere of the documentary at Doc NYC [49] in November 2021, the documentary had a theatrical release in the United States, [50] [51] with the opening weekend at the Film Forum in New York. In August 2023, it had a theatrical release in Japan, [52] across 50 Japanese theatres in 22 prefectures.

Filmography

YearTitleWorked As
2010In Search of My HomeDirector, Producer
2011 Dilli Director, Producer
2012TimbaktuDirector
2021 Writing With Fire Director, Producer, Editor

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Walker (director)</span> English film director

Lucy Walker is an English film director. She has directed the feature documentaries Devil's Playground (2002), Blindsight (2006), Waste Land (2010), Countdown to Zero (2010), The Crash Reel (2013), Buena Vista Social Club: Adios (2017), Bring Your Own Brigade (2021), and Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (2023). She has also directed the short films The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011) and The Lion's Mouth Opens (2014). Waste Land was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Thomas Furneaux Lennon is a documentary filmmaker. He was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1968 and Yale University in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Fogel</span> American dramatist

Bryan Fogel is an American film director, producer, author, playwright, speaker and human rights activist, best known for the 2017 documentary Icarus, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irene Taylor (filmmaker)</span> American director and producer (born 1970)

Irene Taylor is a film director and producer.

A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre is a mass communication research centre located in New Delhi, India and a constituent institute of the Jamia Millia Islamia. The full form for AJK MCRC is Anwar Jamal Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre named after its founder Anwar Jamal Kidwai in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sundance Film Festival</span> Annual film festival in the United States

The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival takes place every January in Park City, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; and at Sundance Resort, and acts as a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival consists of competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections, including NEXT, New Frontier, Spotlight, Midnight, Sundance Kids, From the Collection, Premieres, and Documentary Premieres. Many films premiering at Sundance have gone on to be nominated and win Oscars such as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Rossi</span> American filmmaker

Andrew Rossi is an American filmmaker, Emmy nominated for directing, writing and producing The Andy Warhol Diaries (2022), Ivory Tower (2014) and Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011).

Dilli is a multiple-award-winning documentary film that explores issues of urbanization, development and space through the narratives of people living in Delhi, capital to the world's largest democracy.

<i>Listen to Me Marlon</i> 2015 documentary film

Listen to Me Marlon is a 2015 British documentary film written, directed and edited by Stevan Riley about the movie star and iconic actor Marlon Brando.

<i>City of Ghosts</i> (2017 film) 2017 documentary film by Matthew Heineman

City of Ghosts is a 2017 Arabic-language American documentary film about the Syrian media activist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile after their homeland is taken over by ISIS in 2014. The film was directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman.

Ryan White is a documentary producer and director best known for his Netflix documentary film Pamela, a Love Story, Amazon Prime's Good Night Oppy, which won five Critics Choice Awards including Best Documentary and Best Director, and his Emmy-nominated Netflix series The Keepers. White's previous films include the HBO movie The Case Against 8, which won Sundance's Directing Award and was nominated for two Emmys, the documentary film Ask Dr. Ruth, and Coded, which was shortlisted for the Academy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Sundance Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 28 to February 3, 2021. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 15, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Utah, the festival combined in-person screenings at the Ray Theatre in Park City, with screenings held online as well as on screens and drive-ins in 24 states and territories across the United States.

<i>Writing with Fire</i> 2021 documentary by Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas

Writing with Fire is a 2021 Indian documentary film directed by filmmakers Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas about the journalists running the Dalit women led newspaper Khabar Lahariya, as they shift from 14-years of print to digital journalism using smartphones. It is the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

<i>Fire of Love</i> (2022 film) 2022 film

Fire of Love is a 2022 independent documentary film about the lives and careers of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. Directed, written, and produced by Sara Dosa, the film had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2022, where it won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award. It was released on July 6, 2022, by National Geographic Documentary Films and Neon. It received acclaim from critics, and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 95th Academy Awards.

Elizabeth Woodward is an American film producer and founder of Willa. She has produced On The Divide (2021), You Resemble Me (2021), and Another Body (2023).

Sushmit Ghosh is an Academy award nominated filmmaker based in India. His Peabody-award winning documentary film, Writing With Fire, became the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Audience Award as well as the Special Jury Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Ghosh’s work has also been nominated for the Grierson, IDA and PGA awards. He is a co-founder of the award-winning production company, Black Ticket Films and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

<i>All That Breathes</i> Internationally co-produced documentary

All That Breathes is a 2022 documentary film directed by Shaunak Sen. It is produced by Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer under the banner of Rise Films. The film follows siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who rescue and treat injured birds in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaunak Sen</span> Indian documentary filmmaker (1987-)

Shaunak Sen is an Academy award nominated Indian filmmaker, video artist and film scholar. His documentary film on environmental issues, All That Breathes, won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at 2022 Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Eye award for the best documentary at 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The documentary then won a Peabody Award at the 84th ceremony for "its graceful portrait of empathy and interconnectivity between nature and man".

<i>To Kill a Tiger</i> 2022 Canadian film

To Kill a Tiger is a 2022 Hindi-language Canadian documentary film, directed by Nisha Pahuja. The film centres on a family in Jharkhand, India, who are campaigning for justice after their teenage daughter was brutally raped.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Boris</span> American film producer (born 1981)

Shane Boris, is a film producer and the founder of Cottage M, an independent production house. Boris was nominated for Best Documentary Feature for The Edge of Democracy at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020. In 2022, Boris produced two acclaimed documentaries, Fire of Love and Navalny, which both secured Oscar nominations, and made him the first producer since Walt Disney to be nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature in the same year.

References

  1. ↑ "#IDADocAwards: Courage Under Fire Award - Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh". International Documentary Association. 5 November 2021. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  2. ↑ "Oscars 2022: Writing With Fire Directors Screamed, Jumped, Hugged When Nomination Was Announced". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "Bolly Buzz: 'Writing With Fire' makes it to The Academy Awards nomination, Farhan Akhtar and Shibani Dandekar's wedding festivities to take place in multiple destinations - Times of India". The Times of India. 9 February 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "Oscars 2022: India's 'Writing With Fire' Nominated In Best Documentary Feature Category". India Today. 10 February 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  5. ↑ Hailu, Selome (19 November 2021). "CAA Signs 'Writing With Fire' Directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  6. ↑ "Let's do Timbaktu". The Hindu. 3 April 2013. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  7. ↑ "Timbaktu – PSBT" . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "60th National Film Awards Announced". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  9. ↑ "Timbaktu – PSBT".
  10. ↑ "Movie Screening: Timbaktu + Dilli in Delhi NCR, AntiSocial | What's Hot".
  11. ↑ "criticalcollective.in". criticalcollective.in. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  12. ↑ "37th Annual IDA Documentary Awards Announces 2021 Honorees | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  13. ↑ "Courage Under Fire Award - Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  14. ↑ "AWARDS AND JURY". KASHISH Pride Film Festival. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  15. ↑ "我心飞翔 FLYING INSIDE MY BODY – Beijing Queer Film Festival" . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  16. ↑ "Skoll | Equity and Storytelling: What We're Looking Forward to at Sundance This Year" . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  17. ↑ "From Art to Impact: How Stories Can Create Meaningful Change - sundance.org". 28 June 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  18. ↑ "Courage Under Fire Award: 'Writing With Fire' Team on Finding Hope in the Unlikeliest Place | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  19. ↑ "Rintu Thomas | IMDbPro". pro.imdb.com. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  20. ↑ "Robin Raina Foundation Founder Robin Raina to Ring the NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell to Mark the Film Premiere of "Dilli"". NBC News. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  21. ↑ Rezaian, Jason (4 February 2021). "Opinion | The most inspiring journalism movie — maybe ever". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  22. ↑ "Time (magazine)", Wikipedia, 25 May 2024, retrieved 31 May 2024
  23. ↑ Dutt, Yashica (14 February 2022). "The Oscar-Nominated Film That Offers a Master Class in Journalism". The Atlantic. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  24. ↑ Clarke, Cath (29 July 2021). "'Stop patronising me and give me an interview': the female journalists speaking up for India's poor". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  25. ↑ "How a film about fearless Indian female reporters made it to the Oscars". www.ft.com. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  26. ↑ Kang, Inkoo (1 February 2021). "'Writing With Fire': Film Review | Sundance 2021". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  27. ↑ Brzeski, Patrick (17 March 2022). "'Writing With Fire' Directors on Their Oscar-Nominated Doc's Inspiring Subjects: "There's a World of Possibilities That They're Creating"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  28. ↑ McVey, Ciara (12 March 2022). "The Hollywood Reporter's 'A Seat at the Table': Documentary Feature". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  29. ↑ Hailu, Selome (19 November 2021). "CAA Signs 'Writing With Fire' Directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  30. ↑ Kiang, Jessica (5 February 2021). "'Writing With Fire' Review: Rousing, Inspirational Tribute to the Pride of Grassroots Indian Journalism". Variety. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  31. ↑ Sadarangani, Sunil (11 January 2023). "As Oscar Nomination Voting Nears, Documentary Films from India Gain Prominence On The Global Stage". Deadline. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  32. ↑ Carey, Matthew (21 March 2022). "'Writing With Fire' Writes Oscar Ticket With Story Of Courageous Indian Women Journalists: "You're Now A Part Of History"". Deadline. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  33. ↑ Carey, Matthew (31 January 2022). "Oscar-Shortlisted 'Writing With Fire' Documents Indian Women Journalists Who Beat The Odds To Create Reporting Powerhouse". Deadline. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  34. ↑ "How Two Indian Directors Defied the Odds and Exposed the Caste System | No Film School". nofilmschool.com. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  35. ↑ Thomas, Elena. "Points North Fellowship". Points North Institute. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  36. ↑ Vourlias, Christopher (4 December 2023). "Alternativa Film Project Marks Close of First Edition With Award Ceremony Feting Social-Impact Films From Central Asia". Variety. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  37. ↑ "Alternativa Film Project – Celebrating Artistic Merits and Social Impact". alternativa.film. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  38. ↑ "2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards Announced - sundance.org". 2 February 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  39. ↑ Rezaian, Jason (1 February 2021). ""Opinion: The most inspiring journalism movie — maybe ever"". The Washington Post.
  40. ↑ Erbland, Kate (3 February 2021). "'Writing with Fire' Review: Sundance World Cinema Doc Winner Is a Fearless Fight for Real News". IndieWire. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  41. ↑ Plowman, Katherine (13 July 2023). "83rd Annual Peabody Awards Announced". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  42. ↑ Girish, Devika (25 November 2021). "'Writing With Fire' Review: Speaking Truth to Power". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  43. ↑ "Grierson Trust reveals final nominations for 50th British Documentary Awards" . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  44. ↑ "Nominees Revealed for the 37th Annual IDA Documentary Awards | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  45. ↑ "PGA Award Nominees for Documentary Motion Pictures". Producers Guild. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  46. ↑ "India's 'Writing With Fire' makes it to Oscars, nominated for Best Documentary Feature". The Economic Times. 8 February 2022. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  47. ↑ Scroll Staff (29 October 2022). "Dharamshala film festival returns for a physical edition and cine-love in the hills". Scroll.in. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  48. ↑ Festival, Asian Film (1 November 2022). "10 Films you shouldn't miss at the Dharamshala International Film Festival". Asian Film Festivals. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  49. ↑ "WRITING WITH FIRE". DOC NYC. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  50. ↑ "Film Forum · In-Person Q&As with WRITING WITH FIRE Filmmakers Rintu Thomas & Sushmit Ghosh, Co-presented by Brown Girl Doc Mafia". Film Forum. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  51. ↑ "Film Forum · WRITING WITH FIRE". Film Forum. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  52. ↑ "映画『燃えあがる女性記者たち』公式WEBサイト". writingwithfire.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.