United Kingdom 2022, 94 min, English and Hindi, Hebrew & English subtitles
Much like elsewhere, freedom of the press in India is constantly under attack, as nationalist propaganda threatens to bind the hands of the media. Ravish Kumar, one of India’s top journalists and an esteemed television personality, finds himself at the forefront of the fight against extremists who flood the networks with targeted misinformation. The director, Vinay Shukla, followed Kumar for two years, during which the pressures exerted on him from all sides kept growing consistently: fake news became an epidemic, the national television channel’s ratings plummeted, and budget cuts, show cancellations, and journalist layoffs soon followed. In this intensely dramatic film, Kumar does not hide his emotional turmoil from the camera, revealing the personal and familial cost he pays, and his earnest fear for the fate of democracy in his country.
Previous Festivals: TIFF (Amplify Voices Award), IDFA, Busan International Film Festival (Cinephile Award)
Against all Odds Award Winners Beyond the Screen Competition Democracy Social Justice
Production: Vinay Shukla, Khushboo Ranka, Luke W. Moody, JESS SEARCH, MAXYNE FRANKLIN, BEADIE FINZI
Production Company: LONO STUDIO, BRITDOC FILMS
Script: Reshma Ramachandran, Amaan Shaikh, Abhinav Tyagi, Vinay Shukla
Editing: ABHINAV TYAGI
Cinematography: AMAAN SHAIKH, Vinay Shukla
Sound Design: Renganaath Ravee, Bibin Dev
Music: Joaquin Garcia