Kartiki Gonsalves, the director of The Elephant Whisperers, returned to India with her Oscar on Monday. On March 12, she was awarded Best Documentary Short at the 95th Academy Awards. The film follows two indigenous elephant carers at an elephant camp in Tamil Nadu as they raise orphaned elephant calves and form strong bonds with them. Kartiki also met with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who congratulated her on her historic Oscar win and announced a cash prize of Rs. 1 crore for the Oscar-winning filmmaker.
Twitter users also shared a video of the interaction. The chief minister and Kartiki posed with the Oscar trophy, and he later presented her with a 1 crore cheque for her accomplishment. For the meeting, the director wore a maroon printed dress.
MK Stalin also met with the caretaker couple Bomman and Bellie, who appeared in the documentary alongside young elephants Raghu and Ammu, earlier this month. The Tamil Nadu government also announced several cash prizes for all 91 caretakers at the state’s elephant camps, as well as new facility upgrades.
Kartiki was seen arriving at an airport in India and being greeted warmly as she exited the terminal. The director, who was dressed in a black jacket, shirt, and trousers, was greeted by well-wishers while holding her Oscar trophy. Kartiki and producer Guneet Monga were greeted as heroes upon their return to India. This is the first time an Indian documentary production has won the award.
The first-time director said in a statement after receiving the honour, “[The Elephant Whisperers] allowed me to speak about the sacred connection between humans and the natural world- for the respect of indigenous communities and the empathy towards other living things we share our space with. And lastly, coexistence. Thank you to Netflix for believing in the impact of this film, to Bomman & Bellie for sharing their sacred wisdom, and last but not least to Guneet, my producer at Sikhya Entertainment, and to my entire team for the Academy Award nomination for our movie that celebrates indigenous people and animals.
