At the 95th Academy Awards, one of the most prestigious film awards events, India ended up receiving two awards. The Elephant Whisperers, an Indian documentary on the human relationship with nature, received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. The other was RRR’s Naatu Naatu song which won the Oscar in the Best Original Music category.
The award for the best documentary short film was presented by Pedro Pascal. The Elephant Whisperers was competing with Haulout, How Do You Measure a Year, The Martha Mitchell Effect, and Stranger at the Gate.
The film made history as the first Indian film to win the Oscar and the third overall. Earlier two films The House That Ananda Built and An Encounter With Faces competed for the title of best documentary short film in 1969 and 1979 respectively.
Director of The Elephant Whisperers
Kartiki Gonsalves directed the film The Elephant Whisperers which was written by Priscilla Gonsalves along with Indian movie producer Guneet Monga.
Cast of The Elephant Whisperers
The film is about Bomman and Bellie, a couple from South India who dedicate their entire lives to taking care of Raghu, an orphaned baby elephant.
The Elephant Whisperers: Awards
In addition to winning the Academy Awards, the documentary made the shortlist for the DOC NYC, a yearly documentary film festival held in New York. The movie received nominations for Best Short Documentary at the IDA Documentary Awards and for Best Score at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.
Where to watch the Indian documentary The Elephant Whisperers?
The short documentary is available on Netflix. One can watch it under the Science and Nature Docs category.
