KOCHI: When Sarah Thomas first made a documentary on acid attack, she never thought the film would continue to gain recognition, even six years after its completion. Titled Scarred, the film deals with the issue of acid attacks in India and features stories by victims in Bihar, Delhi and Tumakuru. Thomas is glad the work is still being run in film festivals in different parts of the world, the latest being the World of Women Film Fair Middle East, which has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “The stories of the women that the film features carry so much weight. So it feels great to know that even after all this time, the film is still going places,” says Thomas, who is the founder and executive producer of a city-based production house called Stom Productions.
Thomas made Scarred at the age of 20 for a college assignment at St Joseph’s College (Arts and Science). Calling it a turning point in her life, she says, “That’s when I learned the power of cinema and the change one can bring about through films.”
A “feminist filmmaker”, most of Thomas’ passion projects deal with women-oriented themes, including an upcoming film on child sexual abuse. She claims Scarred was the second in all of India to be made on the issue, while being the first to feature a perpetrator. Recalling that he was the husband of one of the victims she spoke to, Thomas says she was shell-shocked to know that the woman continued to live with him post the attack.
“I was in conversation with the woman at her house and was terrified when he showed up. But I decided to pluck my courage and ask him for his side of the story,” she recounts, adding that she chose to not do his interview in an enclosed space. If the woman’s narration carried a tone of apathy, the man’s came with no sense of remorse. “He did admit that what he did was wrong but still believed he had his reasons for doing so. He also added that all crimes, be it rape or acid attacks, are committed because women exist in the world,” says Thomas.
While reactions to the film have been overwhelming -- it has been screened in Spain and Assam as well -- some other reactions have also been jarring. “While some called it ‘too ghastly’, an editor I sent my reel to told me I should have colour-graded the film. I didn’t want to do any such thing because for these women, it is their everyday reality,” says Thomas. She is still in touch with some of the women who feature in the film, who were happy to hear about the film’s latest selection at the global film fair.
“But their journey is more than the film. What makes me happier is the growth they have been through. One of them, Pragya Prasun Singh, now runs an NGO called Atijeevan Foundation in Bengaluru that helps women gain a livelihood, while the others are activists now.”