The UK premiere of an Indian filmmaker's documentary on women journalists covering news under the most difficult circumstances around the world marked the World Press Freedom Day here.
'Velvet Revolution'showcases the work of five women directors from different countries, who directed different segments on the theme of "women making news".
The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) backed projecttells a vast array of stories of women journalists, including those covering reports from war-torn regions of Afghanistan and Syria as well as those fighting caste prejudice in southern India to bring out a regular newspaper.
"I wanted to capture the status of women in print, radio, television and digital media negotiating their professional duties in a world in conflict. I wanted the testimonies of women journalists from different regions of how they are speaking truth to power," explains Nupur Basu, a former journalist and the executive producer of the film.
The documentary has already been screened in New Delhi and New York, with the London launch organised by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies to coincide with World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
"I did not want to be a war correspondent, but the war came to my door-step," says award-winning Syrian journalist Zaina Erhaim, in a segment of the film.
Erhaim was forced out of her homeland to live in exile in southern Turkey for her coverage of the impact of the war on ordinary citizens of Syria.
Among the others featured in the film include Bonya Ahmed, the wife of slain Bangladeshi blogger Avijit Roy and the Editor of 'Muktomona', who explains her reasons behind carrying on with the blog despite the brutal killing of her husband by extremists: "I could not leave my co-warriors in the middle of the battlefield."
Basu, who will now be travelling with the documentary on the film festival circuit, believes the film highlights 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," she said.
IAWRT is an international collective of women journalists working in television, film, radio and web-based journalism.
It commissions a series of projects to highlight and support the work of women in media around the world.
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