Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin felicitated Kartiki Gonsalves, director of the Academy Award-winning documentary film The Elephant Whisperers on Tuesday, March 21 at the Secretariat in Chennai. He handed over a cheque worth Rs 1 crore to Kartiki after he praised her for the movie. He said the documentary brought the work of many unknown people to the world stage.
The Elephant Whisperers, directed by Kartiki, became the first Indian documentary to win an Oscar on March 13. The Elephant Whisperers, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film, showed the heart-warming relationship between two mahouts and elephant caretakers — Bomman and Bellie — and the two elephant calves that they cared for. The documentary is the directorial debut of Kartiki, who has previously worked as a natural historian and social documentary filmmaker, and photojournalist.
ஊட்டியில் வளர்ந்து, நம் தமிழ்நாடு அரசின் யானைப் பாதுகாப்பு முயற்சிகளை #AcademyAwards வரை கொண்டுசென்ற #TheElephantWhisperers இயக்குநர் @earthspectrum அவர்களைப் பாராட்டி ஊக்கத்தொகையாக ரூ.1 கோடி வழங்கினேன்.
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) March 21, 2023
முகம்தெரியாத பலரின் உழைப்பைத் தம் படைப்பால் உலகறியச் செய்ததற்குப் பாராட்டு! pic.twitter.com/LNZZP0Jjns
Tamil Nadu Forest Minister M Madhiventhan, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu, and Supriya Sahu Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate and Forest Department and other higher officials were present at the felicitation event.
Last week, on March 15, CM Stalin felicitated Bomman and Bellie days after the documentary’s Oscar win. He handed over the cheques worth Rs 1 lakh each to them and also announced the same amount to be given to 91 mahouts and cavadis (helpers) in both Theppakkadu and Kozhikamuthi elephant camps in Tamil Nadu. On the same day, the state government announced houses for all of them and allocated Rs. 9.10 crore from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund for the same.