Nisha Pahuja is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in Toronto and Bombay. Her credits include the critically-acclaimed “Diamond Road,” “Bollywood Bound,” and “The World Before Her,” the latter of which won honors from Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs Film Festival. Pahuja’s short film for Global’s “16/9” about the Delhi Gang rape was the recipient of an Amnesty International media award for Canadian journalism in 2015.
“To Kill a Tiger” is screening at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, which is running from September 8-18.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
NP: “To Kill a Tiger” tells the story of Ranjit, a farmer in India whose world is turned upside down after his 13-year-old daughter is gang raped. The other villagers demand that he marry her to one of the rapists in order to not bring shame on the community. Instead, Ranjit defies convention and fights for justice.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
NP: I was, in fact, making another film, a film that explored masculinity in India, and I met Ranjit in the context of that film. When this happened to his child, however, I knew I had to follow this story to its conclusion. My feeling was that it could serve as the spine of a larger work, but after a very long edit, it was clear it needed to be its own film.
W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?
NP: It’s not so much what I want people to think about—it’s what I want them to feel. And I imagine that will be a deep admiration for an exceptional family and the young girl at the center of the film.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
NP: Without doubt, the edit. I was following a few other storylines that I felt added a larger context and helped to answer the “why” behind the epidemic of rape in India. It was difficult to let go of those ideas and the characters that illustrated those ideas.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
NP: The National Film Board of Canada is our producing partner, and a substantial portion of our budget comes from them. We also got funding from Telefilm Canada, Rogers, the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Fund, TVO and Knowledge Network, to name a few.
In the USA, we work with Women Make Movies as our fiscal sponsor. We also had the good fortune of getting support from a number of executive producers: Andy Cohen (AC Films), who has supported my previous work, Atul Gawande, and Andrew Dragoumis. Other funders include Mala Gaonkar, Madhu Raju, Inspirit Foundation, and Debbie McLeod of the Grant Me The Wisdom Foundation.
There were also many, many other supporters—too many to name.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
NP: I was looking for something that allowed me to merge my creative side with my desire for social justice. Documentary, which I got into quite by accident, just fit.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
NP: The best advice was from my very first editor, Steve Weslak. He said, “Don’t ever forget, action is character.” It’s always stayed with me.
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten bad advice in respect to filmmaking.
W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?
NP: Change is slow, but it’s inevitable. Just keep moving forward.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
NP: I don’t have a favourite film but I have a number of women directors who I think are brilliant: Isabel Coixet, Ava DuVernay, Sarah Polley, Laura Poitras, Mira Nair, Alma Har’el, and Agnès Varda.
W&H: What, if any, responsibilities do you think storytellers have to confront the tumult in the world, from the pandemic to the loss of abortion rights and systemic violence?
NP: I think what we focus on and the kinds of stories we tell should be a choice, so I don’t feel it’s a responsibility as such. I know for me there has always been a deep desire to work toward social justice, either in a very active way with my films or in terms of the kinds of questions I raise.
The one thing I feel strongly about, however, is our responsibility to create content that is not sensationalist. It erodes the mind and feeds our base instincts.
W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world more inclusive?
NP: For any kind of large-scale, systemic change, things have to be enforced. This is obviously happening in Canada. But along with enforcing, I think dialogue has to happen.
My concern is usually around the framing of the dialogue and the kinds of questions we pose. I think if we make this just about white supremacy, which undoubtedly had and continues to have tragic and long-term consequences, we’re missing the larger point. That, to me, has to do with power. And power is an age-old issue that has consistently defined societies and all human dynamics.
The point is not to undermine or devalue the pain racism creates. We must acknowledge it and take responsibility. But we also need to go beyond it and ask larger, more objective questions about who we are as humans.
