Nisha Pahuja's powerful documentary, “To Kill a Tiger,” offers an unflinching look at a father's search for justice after three men kidnapped his 13-year-old daughter and sexually assaulted her in a small town in India. Pahuja, who also directed the 2012 Emmy-nominated news and documentary documentary, “The World Before Her,” says making the film was one of the most difficult things she has ever done.
“You realize that your camera is protecting the family in some way and that you are witnessing something that is part of a necessary change,” he says. “But you also feel responsible for the dissolution of ties within that community, since that culture is deeply rooted in the collective. “You know you are doing something for the greater good, but there is also friction from the dismantling of something profound.”
The negative attention on the town upset many in the community, some of whom thought that it would be best for the girl to marry one of her attackers, a frequent cultural solution to restore the victim's honor, and that her father will abandon the claims.
The Indian-born Canadian filmmaker spoke to The About via Zoom about her film, which is nominated for an Oscar for documentary feature.
His film has received more than 20 awards so far. How did you discover its themes?
About eight years ago, I was making a different film following the work of the Center for Health and Social Justice, an organization that works on gender awareness programs for men and boys. One of the men enrolled in this program was Ranjit, and when I heard about the horrible thing that happened to his daughter and the consequences of the assault, I began to follow his story.
“To Kill a Tiger” offers an unflinching look at a father's search for justice after three men kidnapped his 13-year-old daughter and sexually assaulted her in a small town in India.
(Notice Images/National Movie Bo)
Among the many things that stand out in your film is the level of trust that Ranjit and his daughter, Kiran (not her real name), have in you. How were you able to establish that bond with the family?
Normally, when you make a documentary, you know the participants beforehand. However, in this case, I met Ranjit and his family for the first time with a camera in hand. They kindly and generously allowed us to film, but it took several months before they felt really comfortable with us. One of the big challenges was navigating the complexity of what we were filming and the issues of consent, informed consent and how best to film the survivor – it was a very delicate dance, but we always made sure to include the family in everything. our decisions.
How many people worked with you during filming?
It was mainly me, the cinematographer, which was often my husband, Mrinal Desai, our soundman and our driver. From time to time, when it was a complicated shoot like the days we filmed people from the community, we also had an assistant, but mainly it was the core crew of three people.
At one point, you were thinking of using animation or facial replacement technology to protect the identity of Ranjit's daughter, whom we call Kiran. Why did you end up abandoning those ideas?
At first we thought about filming it in a more abstract way. But it seemed unethical to us if we filmed her in a different way than the others, as if we were inadvertently emphasizing to her that she had done something wrong. So we made a conscious decision to find a way to mask her identity in post-production. During the editing process, which lasted three years, we tried several different techniques, but I couldn't get around the fact that everything seemed strange. I felt that by hiding her identity, I was fueling this idea. [of blame]. Because the film took so long to make, Kiran became an adult during the course of the film and made the decision that he wanted to be seen in it. When we showed the final cut of the film to her and her parents, they all decided to include it.
She was very proud of herself and what she had achieved, and that's why she decided to run. Kiran is truly an extraordinary young woman: To have that courage and self-esteem at 13 years old is very special. It's really about understanding the value of who you are as a human being and that you deserve justice. Kiran has already left the village and plans to be a police officer.
“To Kill a Tiger” has a long list of well-known executive producers, including actors Dev Patel and Mindy Kaling, poet Rupi Kaur and surgeon and bestSelling author Atul Gawande. How did you recruit such an impressive group?
One of the first people to come on board was Atul Gawande, who also showed it to Mindy Kaling. They all wanted to get involved after they were shown cuts of the film because they believed in it. However, when I showed the first versions to people in India, everyone said they thought it was a beautiful film but no one was going to see it. I thought I couldn't have worked eight years to tell this story and have no one see it. I knew that in order to release this film to the world, I needed to involve people who would be the center of attention and could raise awareness about it everywhere.
Can you talk about the impact of the documentary?
It's a case that's talked about a lot and has encouraged other survivors to come forward, but, you know, it's not like the problem is solved. We have a broken system and a culture where misogyny and patriarchy are deeply embedded in every system. There is still a lot of work to be done and we hope that the film can drive more substantial changes. The film has not actually been screened in India, but the intention is undoubtedly to release it there. I also think there's this kind of fatigue with the idea of sexual violence in India, because it's so common. For a long time after the 2012 Delhi gang rape, there was a lot of attention paid to the issue, rightly so, but I think there has been a fatigue that has set in. I think what's unique about our film is that it highlights the importance of men standing up for their daughters and the women in their lives, which is very unusual and rare.
