Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja’s ‘To Kill a Tiger’ nominated for Oscar 2024
The documentary is about an Indian farmer's legal battle for his daughter after a brutal sexual assault
Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja’s ‘To Kill a Tiger’ nominated for Oscar 2024
Toronto: Delhi-born Nisha Pahuja’s film ‘To Kill a Tiger’ has been nominated in the best feature documentary category for the Oscars 2024. She said she learned about the honour along with the rest of the world while watching the live announcement, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
“I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it. I was over the moon. Yeah, I just couldn’t believe it,” Pahuja told The Hollywood Reporter about her emotional reaction. “This film has work to do in the world,” said Nisha about her documentary about an Indian farmer’s legal battle for his daughter after a brutal sexual assault.
Indian-born Canadian filmmaker Pahuja’s previous films include the Emmy-nominated ‘The World Before Her’, the feature documentary ‘Bollywood Bound’ and the three-part series ‘Diamond Road’.
‘To Kill a Tiger’ is all about Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, India, who takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, Kiran, after she survived a sexual assault by three men in 2017.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, out of a father’s love for his daughter and his uphill battle for justice for her has come the Oscar nomination for Pahuja, who was born in New Delhi and raised in Toronto.
But aside from her career milestone, the ‘To Kill a Tiger’ director is more focused on the global platform her film has secured to drive impact for greater gender justice for survivors of rape and other sexual violence in India and the rest of the world.
“This whole journey and the determination to do this has been because this film needs a big platform because it’s important. And it’s a tough subject, and I know this film has work to do in the world,” Pahuja insisted.
‘To Kill a Tiger’ got its theatrical release in October 2023 at the Film Forum in New York before expanding to major cities. On the road to possible Oscar glory, ‘To Kill a Tiger’ has had some heavyweight promoters, including executive producers Dev Patel, Mindy Kaling, Rupi Kaur and Atul Gawande.