Thomas, along with long-standing partner, Sushmit Ghosh has directed and produced over 150 short documentaries under their Black Ticket Films banner. Her short documentary
Dilli premiered at the
NASDAQ in
Times Square,
New York City in 2011 and won 22 international awards including 10 Best Short Documentary Awards. Films directed by Thomas has been screened at several top-tier international film festivals and global platforms including the
United Nations Climate Change Conference and
Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. Her work has been profiled by
The New York Times, Washington Post,
Time Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Le Monde,
The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline, No Film School,
The Asahi Shimbun among others. Thomas serves as a mentor for several international film labs and has served as a jury member for
Irish Film & Television Academy Awards,
International Documentary Association Awards, Points North Fellowship
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Academy, IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund, Alternativa Film Awards,
UNESCO film programme for young adults. Thomas' first feature-length documentary,
Writing With Fire, premiered on 29 January 2021 in the
Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema Documentary Competition. One of the first reviews was
The Washington Post describing it as "The most inspiring journalism movie – maybe ever".
Indiewire's Kate Erbland in her review of the documentary wrote, "Armed with eagle-eyed filmmakers and compelling subjects, the film deftly blends the (inextricably linked) personal and professional sides of the journalists' work, offering up a wide-ranging look at a vital outlet with so many stories to tell…the result is profound". It was the first Indian film to win a Peabody Award, and the jury described the winner as one of "the most compelling and empowering stories released in 2022 across broadcasting and streaming media". The New York Times chose it as a Critics' Pick and the film obtained nominations for Best Documentary from the
Grierson Awards,
International Documentary Association Awards and
Producers Guild of America Awards. Along with winning 40 awards, it is India's first documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award. In India, the documentary film premiered at the
Dharamshala International Film Festival on 5 November 2022. Following the New York premiere of the documentary at
Doc NYC in November 2021, the documentary had a theatrical release in the United States, with the opening weekend at the
Film Forum in New York. In August 2023, it had a theatrical release in Japan, across 50 Japanese theatres in 22 prefectures. == Filmography ==