Award for IAWRT’s Velvet Revolution

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Documentary wins its first award at the Kashmir World Film Festival.

The IAWRT’s 2017 documentary, Velvet Revolution, has been selected as best film in the Feature Length Documentary section.

Velvet revolution was selected as the winner in July at the Kashmir World Film Festival. The documentary is about the challenges that women journalists face in covering regions in conflict. More details and trailer here.

Nupur Basu, Executive Producer/Project Director of the film, says “The 57- minute documentary, Velvet Revolution, reinforces the fact that there is no longer a red line when it comes to killing of women journalists. Women journalists, like their male counterparts, are also increasingly under attack by state and non- state players as they are doing their jobs. As women, they are exposed to ‘double attacks’ – their personal safety is increasingly under threat and the attacks on them through social media are getting nastier and misogynistic.”

In this exciting collaborative film – Velvet Revolution – six women directors take their lens up-close to Women Making News. In a world riven with conflict and dictatorial regimes where journalists are constantly under threat of both, state and non – state actors, what drives these women journalists to do their jobs? Women journalists from Philippines, Syria, Afghanistan, Cameroon, India, United Kingdom, USA/Bangladesh give their testimonies in this film.

“I did not want to be a war correspondent… but the war came to my door-step” says award winning Syrian journalist, Zaina Erhaim, now living in exile in southern Turkey.

“I could not leave my co-warriors in the middle of the battlefield” says Bonya Ahmed, the wife of slain Bangladesh blogger, Avijit Roy and the Editor of Muktomona, in her first ever documentary interview.

The rivetting documentary profiles women journalists who have paid a high price for speaking truth to power like those in the Panama Papers investigations.

The film was produced by IAWRT. The country directors were Ilang Ilang Quijano  – Philippines, Deepika Sharma – India, Pochi Tamba Nsoh and Sidonie Pongmoni – Cameroon, Eva Brownstein – USA/ Bangladesh and the Executive Producer and Project Director was Nupur Basu.