Indo-Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja’s India-set sexual abuse documentary “To Kill a Tiger” is nominated at the Oscars for best documentary feature. The film tracks one father’s pursuit of justice for his young daughter after she’s sexually assaulted by three men at a wedding. The Toronto-based director earned a best documentary feature nomination for the National Film Board of Canada co-production on Tuesday when Oscar nominations were announced.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff With News Files

TORONTO– Indo-Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja’s India-set sexual abuse documentary “To Kill a Tiger” is nominated at the Oscars for best documentary feature. 

The film tracks one father’s pursuit of justice for his young daughter after she’s sexually assaulted by three men at a wedding. 

The Toronto-based director earned a best documentary feature nomination for the National Film Board of Canada co-production on Tuesday when Oscar nominations were announced.

The film takes the viewers on a journey of the 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.

Image provided by the NFB (CNW Group/National Film Board of Canada)

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, reported Canadian Press.

“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.’”

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.”

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.

Courtesy The Canadian Press