Kartiki Gonsalves
Gonsalves in 2022
Born (1986-11-02) 2 November 1986 (age 37)
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Alma materDr G R Damodaran College of Science
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • photographer
OrganizationInternational League of Conservation Photographers (Associate Fellow)
Notable workThe Elephant Whisperers (2022, director)
Parents
Websitekartikigonsalves.com

Kartiki Gonsalves (born 2 November 1986) is an Indian director and producer. In 2023, she won the Best Documentary Short Subject at the 95th Academy Awards for The Elephant Whisperers. She is also one of the first women chosen as a Sony Alpha Artisan of Imagery in India and also associated with brands like Peak Design, Swarovski Optik Nature Explorer 2021.

Early life and education

Kartiki is the younger daughter of Timothy A. Gonsalves and Priscilla Tapley Gonsalves, who is from Binghamton, New York. She has one older sister, Danica Gonsalves.[1] She grew up in Ooty, within the Nilgiri Biosphere reserve in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu.[2][3]

She studied at the Dr G R Damodaran College of Science in Coimbatore and graduated in 2007, before continuing her studies, focusing on photography[2] at Light & Life Academy, Ooty.[citation needed]

Career

Raghu at Theppakadu Elephant Camp

Gonsalves is a documentary filmmaker and photographer[4] and has worked as a camera operator for Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel.[5] She is the director, co-executive producer and cinematographer of the documentary film The Elephant Whisperers[4] produced by Sikhya Entertainment and acquired and distributed by Netflix.[6] The 39.5-minute[7] documentary was produced at the Mudumalai tiger reserve which is part of the Nilgiri biosphere reserve in Tamil Nadu, 30-minutes from where Gonsalves grew up.[3]

On 13 March 2023, the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards.[8] It was the first Indian film to win the award.[9]

Kartiki and Priscilla Gonsalves at the 95th Academy Awards

Kartiki Gonsalves is a Sony Artisan of Imagery India since 2020, specialising in nature and social documentaries.[10] She gives workshops on nature and wildlife photography[11] and has conducted tours of Bangalore and Mysore cities.[12] She travels widely for her work.[citation needed]

Gonsalves is an International League of Conservation Photographers Associate Fellow.[13]

Major industry awards

Award Year Nominated work Category Result Ref.
DOC NYC 2022 The Elephant Whisperers Shorts: Change Makers Shortlisted [14]
95th Academy Awards 2023 The Elephant Whisperers Best Documentary Short Subject Won [8]
Grierson Awards 2023 The Elephant Whisperers Best Natural History or Environmental Documentary Shortlisted [15]

On 28 June 2023 King Charles III and Queen Camilla presented Kartiki with the Elephant Family award called the Tara Award, to recognise her contributions to protecting Asian wildlife.

Controversy

The couple who were the subject of the Oscar-winning Indian documentary The Elephant Whisperers have accused the film’s director, Kartiki Gonsalves, of reneging on payments they say were due to them as of 7 August 2023. Kartiki has denied the allegations.[16][17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Priscilla and Timothy Gonsalves". Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b Kamala Thiagarajan (5 March 2023) 'The Elephant Whisperers' — An Oscar-nominated love story about people and pachyderms, Archived 2023-03-10 at the Wayback Machine NPR
  3. ^ a b Chatterjee, Saibal (23 February 2023). "How Kartiki Gonsalves Made Oscar-Nominated Documentary The Elephant Whisperers: "Fell In Love With Raghu"". NDTV. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  4. ^ a b Hill, Libby (27 February 2023). "Oscar-Nominated Doc Shorts Directors Tell Big Stories (Video)". The Wrap. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  5. ^ Bharat, Divya (2 March 2023). "Most of my life has been spent in Ooty and jungles: Kartiki Gonsalves if it took 15 to 20 years to make The Elephant Whispers". Divya Bharat. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  6. ^ Katie Reul, Documenting Change. Variety, [s. l.], v. 359, n. 5, p. 23, 2023. Disponível em: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=161981277&site=eds-live&scope=site . Acesso em: 10 Mar. 2023.
  7. ^ "Watch | Director Kartiki Gonsalves on the making of Oscar-nominated 'The Elephant Whisperers'". The Hindu. 8 March 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  8. ^ a b "India wins its first Oscar of 2023 as Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga's 'The Elephant Whisperer' bags an award for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards". The Times of India. 13 March 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  9. ^ "The Elephant Whisperers scripts history with 1st Oscar for an Indian production, Guneet Monga says 'two women did it'". Hindustan Times. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Kartiki Gonsalves". Sony Alpha Community. 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  11. ^ Nair, Gayatri; Gonsalves, Kartiki (9 April 2022). "Up Your Photography Game with iPhone 13". Aptronix. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  12. ^ Balram, Smita (11 April 2018). "Meet the wildlife photographer from Bengaluru who doubles as city tour guide". The Economic Times. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Meet the new Associate Fellows of iLCP". International League of Conservation Photographers. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Shortlist Shorts: Change Makers". Doc NYC. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  15. ^ "2023 Awards: The 2023 Grierson Awards Shortlist is revealed". Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  16. ^ Dhillon, Amrit (7 August 2023). "Indian couple who starred in Oscar-winning film say director backed out of pay promises". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  17. ^ "'The Elephant Whisperers' Bomman and Bellie allege exploitation by docu makers; Kartiki Gonsalves calls claims "untrue"". The Hindu. 5 August 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  18. ^ "'Elephant Whisperers' Bomman and Bellie Allege Exploitation by Filmmakers". The Wire. Retrieved 7 August 2023.


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