ROAD TO THE OSCARS
TO KILL A TIGER, directed by 2022 DOC Vanguard Award recipient Nisha Pahuja, has been nominated for an Academy Award!
JoinDOC Institute for a conversation with the team behind the film’s Oscar campaign: Nisha Pahuja (Writer, Director, Producer), Geeta Sondhi (Executive Producer, Impact Producer), Archana Misra Jain (Film Campaign Strategist, Product of Culture), and Annalisa Shoemaker (Theatrical Distributor). The conversation is moderated by Ina Fichman (Producer, Fire of Love, 2022 Oscar Nominee)
In To Kill a Tiger, Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the survivor of sexual assault. In India, where a rape is reported every 20 minutes and conviction rates are less than 30 percent, Ranjit’s decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
Speakers
NISHA PAHUJA
Writer, Director, and Producer
Nisha Pahuja is an Academy-Award Nominated and Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in Toronto. Her latest film, TO KILL A TIGER, had its world premiere at TIFF where it won the Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature Film. Since then, it’s won 26 awards including Best Documentary Feature, Palm Springs International Film Festival and three Canadian Screen awards. The film grew out of a long career of addressing various human rights issues, notably violence against women in India. In 2015, she won the Amnesty International media award for Canadian journalism after making a short film about the Delhi bus gang rape for Global News. Pahuja’s other past credits include the multi-award-winning THE WORLD BEFORE HER (2012 Best Documentary Feature, Jury Award Winner, Tribeca Film Festival; Best Canadian Documentary, Hot Docs; TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten; Best Documentary nominee, Canadian Screen Awards, the series Diamond Road (2008 Gemini Award for Best Documentary Series) and Bollywood Bound (2002 Gemini Award nominee).
GEETA SONDHI
Executive Producer, Impact Producer
A veteran of non-fiction work as both director and producer, Geeta Sondhi’s credits include shorts, feature length films and series. Geeta has also programmed films for TIFF, worked alongside doc luminaries at the NFB, managed funding programs for Ontario Creates and pioneered web programming for ExtendMedia. Recent directing credits include TV docs The Art of Losing Things on aging (CBC, POV, Doc Channel, NHK-Japan, SBC-Sweden); and Stand Up Toronto! on the politics of race and comedy (TVO, DOC Channel). Her acclaimed viral online short 100 & Counting: Secrets to a Long Life has over 27 million views (CBC Gem). Most recently Geeta was Creative Producer on Deepa Mehta & Sirat Taneja’s ground-breaking doc I Am Sirat (TIFF, VIFF and BFI London Film Fest 2023). She is currently producing the Awards and Impact Campaign for Nisha Pahuja’s, Oscar-nominated and globally acclaimed To Kill A Tiger. Originally from Kenya, Geeta resides in Canada.
ARCHANA MISRA JAIN
Film Campaign Strategist | Product of Culture
Archana is the Founder and CEO of Product of Culture, an agency, media platform, and community established by women of color. This venture is dedicated to amplifying people of color by merging content, commerce, creatives, and culture through brand marketing, experiential events, media amplification, and multi-digital strategy. In addition to her role at Product of Culture, Archana also serves as the Festival Director of the South Asian Film Festival of America. Committed to making a positive impact, Archana dedicates her time to supporting and investing in businesses and initiatives founded by women and people of color. She serves as a board member of South Asian Women in Entertainment, the Arts Council of America and as chair of the Impact Arts Alliance. She holds a Master's in Public Relations and Corporate Communication from New York University and a Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University. Notably, Archana gained extensive leadership and service training during her four years with the US Marine Corps ROTC program.
ANNALISA SHOEMAKER
Theatrical Strategist
Annalisa Shoemaker is a creative producer, independent distributor, and founder of Suncatcher Productions. Her goal is to offer audiences intentional, representative stories that awaken - especially about women, people with disabilities, and the environment. Prior to Suncatcher, Annalisa spent over a decade working on theatrical distribution campaigns at Amazon Studios and Focus Features. In 2017, she was the associate producer of the feature documentary THE LAST ANIMALS which premiered at Tribeca and won the Disruptive Innovation Award. Most recently, Annalisa was selected for Film Independent’s Producing Lab and is leading the theatrical strategy for TO KILL A TIGER, an Academy Award® nominee for Best Documentary Feature.