Indian films 'Fire In The Mountains', 'Writing With Fire' head to Sundance

Mumbai

Two films, Fire In The Mountains and Writing With Fire, are the only Indian titles at the prestigious 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

The lineup for the upcoming edition has 72 feature films, and 38 first-time directors, including Rebecca Hall, Robin Wright and Ajitpal Singh.

Ajitpal's debut Hindi feature film Fire In The Mountains will have its world premiere at the fest in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition category.

Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, is selected in the World Cinema Documentary Competition section. The film is about the cluttered news landscape dominated by men, and how chief Reporter Meera and her journalists break tradition to come out with India's only newspaper run by Dalit women.

Fire In The Mountains is about a mother who toils to save money to build a road in a remote Himalayan village to take her wheelchair-bound son for physiotherapy but her husband believes that an expensive religious ritual is the remedy. The 82-minute family drama stars Vinamrata Rai, Chandan Bisht, Mayank Singh Jaira, Harshita Tewari, and Sonal Jha.

Talking about the film's addition in the line-up, Ajitpal said: "It's been a difficult year for all of us and I am so glad that it's ending on a positive note with hopes of vaccine for everyone and on a personal note, I am super thrilled that my first feature 'Fire In The Mountains' is making its World Premiere at the prestigious Sundance in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition."

On the inspiration behind the film, Ajitpal shared: "The idea of 'Fire In The Mountains' came from a personal tragedy, when my cousin sister Amarjeet Kaur died because her husband didn't take her to the hospital thinking she was possessed by a ghost. The film is about the clash of two worldviews- traditional and modern, with a strong woman at the heart of it and I hope my film will make people ask some relevant questions about their blind faiths."

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be held from January 28 to February 3. It is normally held in Park City, Utah, but this year the festival will go virtual due to Covid-19, combined with drive-in and socially distanced screenings around the country.