India wins its first Oscar for 'The Elephant Whisperer'

India earned its first Oscar for 2023 with Netflix's "The Elephant Whisperer" by Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga winning the Best Documentary Short Film category at the 95th Academy Awards. In her acceptance speech, director Gonsalves expressed gratitude to the Academy, producer Guneet Monga, her family, and her "motherland India" for the honour.

She spoke for cohabitation, respect for indigenous populations, empathy for other living things with whom we share the planet, and the spiritual connection between humans and the natural world.

She added: "We are grateful that the Academy chose to honour indigenous people and animals in our movie. Thank you Netflix for recognising this's potential. Bomman and Belli, thank you for imparting your priceless tribal knowledge to Guneet, my producer..."
Finally, she addressed her mentor, team, and her motherland India, who she described as the centre of her universe together with her mother, father, and sister who are all deceased.

Haulout, How Do You Measure a Year?, The Martha Mitchell Effect, and Stranger at the Gate were the other finalists.

This short documentary, which lasts 41 minutes, depicts the shaky yet cherished link that Raghu, an orphaned young elephant, forms with his mahouts, a couple named Bomman and Bellie, who dedicate their lives to keeping him safe from poachers and raising him. Kartiki Gonsalves made his directing debut with this film. Gonsalves quit her comfortable employment for her first business venture. She had a successful career as a wildlife and social documentary photographer, photojournalist, and cinematographer.

In a previous interview, Guneet revealed some details about the movie, revealing that "The Elephant Whisperers" is "the narrative of individuals, who have been dealing with elephants for generations and they're so sensitive of the demands of the forest."
She said: "There is a great sequence in the movie that talks about simply taking what is necessary from the jungle because there is enough there for everyone. So whether we take what we need or hoard it is up to us. Humans have limitless demands, so it is up to us to draw the boundary and treat animals with the respect they deserve."

'Period. End of Sentence,' which won the 2019 Oscar Award for Best Documentary Short Film, was previously executive produced by Monga.