Mumbai, (PTI) Kartiki Gonsalves, director of the Oscar-winning documentary “The Elephant Whisperers”, on Thursday said the Indian documentary scene is rich and thriving with filmmakers who are stepping out in the world to showcase the “diversity” of the country.
Gonsalves created history when “The Elephant Whisperers”, produced by Guneet Monga and Achin Jain of Sikhya Entertainment, was named the winner of the Best Documentary Short Academy Award earlier this month.
Along with Best Original Song winner “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”, this is the first time two India-made productions bagged the cinema world’s biggest prize.
At the first press meet since the Oscar win, Gonsalves said she hopes the triumph translates into more support for documentary filmmakers.
“I hope it is the way for all people looking to start out with small stories and also for small documentaries that don’t have large budgets. This is my debut film.
“I was a sales girl at FabIndia, I worked at a gym, and I was in advertising for a couple of years. And here I am today. There is a whole generation stepping out of the world showcasing the diversity of India, as local documentarians,” the debutante director told reporters.
Tamil Nadu-set “The Elephant Whisperers”, currently streaming on Netflix, depicts an unbreakable bond between two abandoned elephant calves (Raghu and Ammu) and their caretakers (Bomman and Bellie), who belong to the Kattunayakan tribe.
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Monga, who served as an executive producer on the Best Documentary Short Oscar-winner 2019 film “Period. End of Sentence”, credited streaming platform Netflix for lending its support to documentary filmmakers in India.
“The coming of Netflix in India in such a big way has supported a lot of documentaries as a format and made the Indian audiences used to watching and appreciating documentaries…
“I hope this win will encourage many first time filmmakers and a lot of documentaries to get made. Oscar is a huge huge honour but it wouldn’t have been possible without a platform like Netflix empowering filmmakers in this format,” she added.
Gonsalves, a photojournalist and explorer, said winning the Oscar was “a surreal moment”. The documentary bested “Haulout”, “How Do You Measure a Year?”, “The Martha Mitchell Effect” and “Stranger at the Gate” to scoop the golden statuette.
“I replayed it (the win) in my head a couple of times because I was thinking of all the documentaries that could have won. I realised it was us, it was Bomman and Bellie, the elephants.
“We hugged each other and then we realised we had to run to the stage, as the clock was ticking and it was more like we need to go speak now. Now is the time to speak to the world,” she said.
Jain, COO, Sikhya Entertainment, said they didn’t expect to win the Academy Award for “The Elephant Whisperers”.
“When it was releasing on December 8, I don’t think we had an iota (of idea) that it would win an Oscar, she (Monga) was getting married.
“Kartiki got an urgent visa and took a flight to the US just to experience the release of her film. And, it is so amazing that she is back with an Oscar. So, nobody can plan it. I believe if you say the story with honesty the award will follow,” he said.
Monga pointed out that “solid American distribution” is key to scooping up an Oscar.
“For Oscar what is needed is solid American distribution for your piece of content. For short formats, you need to apply to Oscar qualifying festivals, for feature films and as India sends more films, it is important for all of us, the committee, that the film to understand that the film should have solid American distribution,” she explained.
Asked whether after the Oscar win more women will step behind the camera, Monga said the change is on its way.
“There’s still five per cent women who are directors and the stats are against us but as producers at Sikhya most of our work is female centric stories… There is a lot of work and celebration happening. The change, the push and the stats will not be immediate but in this decade it will be significant.”
She praised Netflix for backing women-led narratives.
“Netflix has a huge push with women stories, most of their shows are amazing and (they are) big-budget shows. And also, empowering producers, like companies led by women…” she added.
According to Gonsalves, she has already seen a “massive” change in the wildlife industry in terms of participation of more women directors.
“In the wildlife industry, there has been a massive change already. We have women who have stepped out, who are cinematographers, directors and it is beautiful to see this change. And in the coming years we will have a strong women force in the wildlife industry in India,” the filmmaker said.
Monika Shergill, vice president, content, Netflix India, said their attempt is to give voice to more women storytellers to narrate female-driven stories.
“That’s why we have 50 per cent women at Netflix. There is no reason why we should not be represented, stories being told. It is a fairer representation when we have more women telling stories of women, by the women, for women, and for the men. And there are so many men out there, who also want the same. It is a journey we are on,” she added.
Bomman and Bellie, who also attended the event, expressed gratitude for the outpour of love towards the film and their story. PTI
(This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. Dainik Hind mitra holds no responsibility for its content.)
