The Elephant Whisperers' Kartiki Gonsalves reacts to Oscar win: Documentary allowed me...

Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga's The Elephant Whisperers swept the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards. The director of this film Kartiki had spent five years of her life with Bommon, Billie, and the orphaned elephants. She uncovered the story of the two caregivers, who saved a baby elephant and looked after it in its time of need.

Talking about the big win in her Oscar 2023 speech, Kartiki said, "The documentary allowed me to speak about the sacred bond between us and our natural world - for the respect of indigenous communities and the empathy towards other living beings we share our space with. And finally for co-existence. Thank you to the Academy for recognizing our film, highlighting indigenous people and animals, to Netflix for believing in the power of this film, to Bomman & Bellie for sharing their sacred wisdom and finally, to Guneet my Producer, Sikhya Entertainment, and my entire team"

Guneet Monga on winning the Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards

After winning the prestigious award, Guneet Monga said, "Tonight was powerful and historic as two women from India stood on the Oscars stage, lauded for their work. I’m so proud of The Elephant Whisperers, so proud of this moment and proud of my amazing team at Sikhya Entertainment. That an independent production house from India has made history and produced the first ever Indian film to win an Oscar, still feels unreal."

"My heart is full of  joy, love and excitement, most of it imbibed from everyone in India cheering for our win. I’m so grateful to the visionary filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves and to Netflix who gave us the biggest stage in the world, believing in us all the way. To women who want to tell stories, the future of cinema is audacious, the future is here. This is for my beautiful, diverse country, India."