Toronto-based Nisha Pahuja hopes ‘To Kill a Tiger’ Oscar nod is a step toward change

Filmmaker Nisha Pahuja hopes that an Oscar nod for her documentary “To Kill a Tiger” will be a small step in a movement of justice for sexual assault survivors.

The Toronto-based director earned a best documentary feature nomination for the National Film Board of Canada co-production, which tells the story of one father’s push for accountability after his 13-year-old daughter is raped by three men at a wedding in India.

“There’s a belief I have in this film, that it can have impact,” Pahuja said on Tuesday after learning she was among this year’s Oscar contenders.

“The story is about this extraordinary family who, against all odds, sought justice.”

But the Oscar prospects for “To Kill a Tiger” were never a certainty.

Even though it made the Academy Awards’ short list, many prognosticators had written the film off as a less likely contender in a year of a few high-profile celebrity docs. “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” about the career and health struggles of the Canadian actor, was deemed a stronger bet.

“Last night, I was thinking, ‘Oh, it’s not going to happen,'” Pahuja said in a phone call from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

“(I had) the sort of pep talk that you give yourself, like: ‘You tried, you put everything into it.'”

Several hours later, “To Kill a Tiger” picked up its nomination while “Still” was shut out. 

It’s another twist in a story of surprises for “To Kill a Tiger” and the 56-year-old filmmaker who was born in New Delhi before her family moved to Toronto when she was four.

Originally, she intended to focus the documentary on the Srijan Foundation, an NGO involved in educating men and boys about women’s rights in Jharkhand, India.

“I wanted to make a film looking at masculinity, specifically in India,” she said.

“And then this horrific thing happened to his child. So, I began to track the case, not knowing where the story was going to go or how far they were going to pursue justice. Because the obstacles, there were so many for them.”

After bringing her footage to the editing room, and spending two years trying to map out the narrative, she consulted fellow Canadian documentarians Manfred Becker and Nick Hector.

They were captivated by the story of Ranjit, the father in the film, who was a village farmer enrolled in the Srijan Foundation’s program. 

“Both of them said … kind of unanimously, ‘You need to just focus on this particular story, on the story of Ranjit and his family, because that’s really powerful,’” she added.

The film charts Ranjit’s difficult journey as he goes to the police and seeks justice for his daughter, despite community pressure on his family to drop the charges. 

Other contenders in the documentary feature category are “Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” “The Eternal Memory,” “Four Daughters” and “20 Days in Mariupol.”

Pahuja hopes the global attention of an Oscar nod will encourage more people to watch “To Kill a Tiger.”

“It’s difficult to want to watch a film about a survivor,” she said.

“But once you’re in, you’re in. You understand … the beauty of the film and also that it’s actually a really powerful film about love.”

“To Kill a Tiger” can be streamed for free at nfb.ca and via the NFB app, which is available on smart TVs and mobile devices.

The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, are set to air March 10 on ABC and CTV.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2024.

David Friend, The Canadian Press