Hyderabad: To Kill A Tiger, a documentary feature film directed by Indo-Canadian Nisha Pahuja, has made it to the Oscar shortlist for 2024. The 96th Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on March 10, 2024. Pahuja's film follows the heart-wrenching story of a Jharkhand family and their effort to pursue those guilty of a sexual assault on a thirteen-year-old daughter.
The film, directed by Delhi-born Nisha Pahuja, chronicles Ranjit's uphill battle when the three men who kidnapped and sexually assualted his daughter gain sympathy from villagers, forcing the family to drop charges. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022. In June 2023, the film got its North American premiere at the Lighthouse International Film Festival.
"We are here, at this moment, because a farmer in India, his wife, and their 13-year-old daughter dared to demand thier human rights," Pahuja said after the Academy revealed the nominations. "It is our hope and intent that this film will encourage other survivors to seek justice, and that men stand with us in our fight for gender equality," she added. Pahuja, who has already been nominated for an Emmy for her 2012 documentary The World Before Her, is a Canadian citizen living in Toronto.
In India, where rape is reported every 20 minutes and conviction rates are less than 30%, Ranjit's decision to support his daughter is almost unprecedented. With unprecedented access, we witness the emotional journey of an ordinary man facing extraordinary circumstances. Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim have co-produced the film. It is nominated for Best Documentary Feature alongside Bobi Wine: The People’s President, The Eternal Memory, Four Daughters, and 20 Days in Mariupol.
The nomination comes a year after two Indian productions won Oscars: The Elephant Whisperers, directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, won Best Documentary Short, and Naatu Naatu, from SS Rajamouli's RRR, won Best Original Song in 2023. however, Shaunak Sen's All That Breathes, about two brothers who manage a bird clinic in Delhi, which was nominated for Best Documentary Feature last year, lost to the Russian film Navalny, about the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Talking about the Oscars, the 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles. Jimmy Kimmel has been bestowed with hosting duties for the second time in a row. With this, Jimmy will complete his fourth stint at presenting the Oscars.
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