The Elephant Whisperer producer Guneet Monga: Tonight is historic as two women from India stood on the Oscars stage, lauded for their work

In a historic moment, two Indian women, director and producer of The Elephant Whisperer, Kartiki Gonsalves, and Guneet Monga, received the Oscar for the Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards, Los Angeles. A film that delves into the lives of an indigenous couple who have been given an orphaned elephant, Raghu, to look after.

This is Guneet Monga’s second Oscar. She bagged her first in 2019, for the documentary, Period. End of Sentence, in the Documentary Short category. After winning the award, the producer 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." Set against the backdrop of the wild spaces of South India, The Elephant Whisperers highlights the beauty of exotic wildlife, unforgettable untamed spaces, and the people and animals who share this space.

Guneet also conveyed gratitude to her team. "I am 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.”