Oscar-Nominated Documentary ‘To Kill A Tiger’ Returning To U.S. Theaters This Week

EXCLUSIVE: Nisha Pahuja’s Oscar-nominated documentary To Kill a Tiger is returning to theaters this Friday, extending through the end of the month.

The film will be showcased in select specialty theaters across the U.S., according to a release, including (but not limited to) Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Washington DC, and Dallas.

“To Kill a Tiger follows a riveting story of Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, India, who takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of sexual assault,” notes a description of the film. “The documentary highlights Ranjit’s relentless support for his daughter, a feat that is virtually unheard of in India.”

Pahuja, an Emmy nominee for the 2014 documentary The World Before Her, earned the first Oscar nomination of her career for To Kill a Tiger. The documentary has won more than 20 awards around the world including three Canadian Screen Awards, Best Director from the Directors Guild of Canada, Best Documentary at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival, along with prizes at DocAviv, the New York Indian Film Festival, the Imagine India International Film Festival, and Best Documentary By or About Women at the Women Film Critics Circle Awards.

Pahuja told Deadline about the reaction of Ranjit and his daughter Kiran after they heard about the film’s Oscar nomination.

“She was just so excited. And Ranjit basically said, ‘I know that the Oscars are really important. I don’t quite know what they are, but I’ve heard they’re really important. And all I can say is it is just extraordinary to be here because it means that the world is recognizing our struggle for truth and justice,’” Pahuja said. “And then he went on to thank his daughter. It was really about her.”

The film features an exceptional array of executive producers: Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Canadian poet Rupi Kaur, AC Films Inc’s Andy Cohen, the National Film Board of Canada’s Anita Lee, bestselling author Dr. Atul Gawande, Andrew Dragoumis, Minor Realm’s Samarth Sahni, Deepa Mehta, and ShivHans Pictures’ Shivani Rawat. The film was produced by Notice Pictures Inc’s Pahuja and Cornelia Principe, and the National Film Board of Canada’s David Oppenheim.

To Kill a Tiger is a Notice Pictures production in co-production with The National Film Board of Canada, with the participation of Telefilm Canada and the Rogers Group of Funds through the Theatrical Documentary Program. Made with the Assistance of The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Ontario Creates, and Rogers Telefund, in Association with TVO and Knowledge Network.