All That Breathes director Shaunak Sen breaks silence on Oscar loss; flashes letter 'L' in photos

Director Shaunak Sen took to Instagram and posted for the first time since his film All That Breathes lost to Daniel Roher's Navalny at the 95th edition of the Academy Awards. It was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature Film category. After more than a day of the Oscars, the director posted pictures from the ceremony and in one of them, he even flashed the letter ‘L’ on his forehead as a sign of his defeat.

Shaunak took to his Instagram handle and penned a long note with a sereis of photos. He wrote, "So many chin-uppy messages of encouragement/support since yesterday. We were low for about an hour, but we're soon distracted into equanimity amidst the whirl of glittery people and things. Brain is still to wrap around the fact that this is the end of this chapter."

He further added, "Next we'll be working hard to figure India distribution (HBO has ended it's deal in India with Hotstar it appears, and we're figuring out which platform it'll come out on now). For now, very very nice to share this bizarre, swollen day with the brothers, and so many members of our crew. Hugest congratulations to all the winning films from India".

"All That Breathes" is a Delhi-set documentary which follows two siblings, Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who have devoted their lives to rescuing and treating injured birds, especially black kites. The critically-acclaimed film previously won the 'World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary' at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Eye award for the best documentary at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

While it missed out on Oscars 2023, India did bring home the prestigious award in two different categories. SS Rajamouli's RRR song Naatu Naatu won in the Original Song category at the Oscars. Guneet Monga's The Elephant Whisperers won the Best Documentary Short Film.