Latest news with #TheElephantWhisperers
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Oscar Winner Guneet Monga Kapoor, Vikramaditya Motwane Join India's Kashish LGBTQ+ Film Fest Jury (EXCLUSIVE)
Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga Kapoor and filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane are among 16 jury members set to judge 12 competition categories at the 16th edition of India's Kashish Pride Film Festival. Joining Monga Kapoor ('The Elephant Whisperers,' 'The Lunchbox,' 'Masaan') and Motwane ('Black Warrant,' 'Udaan,' 'Jubilee') are director-producer Abhishek Chaubey ('Dedh Ishqiya,' 'Udta Punjab,' 'Sonchiriya') and producer Neeraj Churi ('Sabar Bonda,' 'Ek Jagah Apni') as jury members for the Kashish QDrishti Film Grant, which awards $3000 to an LGBTQ+ identifying filmmaker to make a short film. Actor Renuka Shahane ('Hum Aapke Hai Kaun,' 'Imtihaan') will support two runners-up. More from Variety Venice Selection 'Stolen' Acquired by Prime Video (EXCLUSIVE) Oscar Winner Guneet Monga Kapoor Brings Rising Indian Producers to Cannes Through Women in Film India Fellowship (EXCLUSIVE) 'Life of Pi' Stage Adaptation in Spotlight as IFFLA Expands Industry Days (EXCLUSIVE) The narrative jury features actor Shishir Sharma ('Raazi,' 'Mary Kom,' 'Dangal'), actor and TV host Shruti Seth ('Shararat,' 'Fanaa,' 'Raajneeti') and filmmaker Tanuja Chandra ('Dushman,' 'Sur,' 'Qarib Qarib Single'), who will adjudge best narrative feature and shorts, best screenplay and best performance awards. These categories receive backing from Taiwanese streaming platform GagaOoLala, production house Samruddhi Studios and actor Abhay Kulkarni. Documentary filmmakers Bishaka Dutta ('In the Flesh,' 'Taza Khabar'), Prateek Vats ('Eeb Allay Ooo!,' 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings') and Shubhra Chatterjee ('Rainbow Rishta,' 'Lost Recipes') comprise the documentary jury, selecting winners of the unity in diversity documentary feature and short awards, supported by K.F. Patil Charitable Trust. The student shorts jury includes actors Siddharth Menon ('Loev,' 'Karwaan,' 'June'), director-producer Sudhanshu Saria ('Ulajh,' 'Loev,' 'Knock Knock Knock') and Mubi programming director Svetlana Naudiyal, with support from Whistling Woods International. Additional awards include the Riyad Wadia Award for best emerging Indian filmmaker, Ismat Chughtai Award for best woman filmmaker of Indian origin, and Aditya Nanda Award for best film on mental health, backed by Nargis and Roy Wadia (Wadia Movietone), filmmaker Ashish Sawhny and Akshay Tyagi (Keshav Suri Foundation). The festival runs June 4-8, kicking off Pride Month with screenings at St. Andrews Auditorium in Bandra, Mumbai, on opening night, then moving to Cinepolis Andheri West and Alliance Francaise Marine Lines for the remainder of the fest. This year's edition showcases 152 films from 48 countries, including entries from Iceland, Peru, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Nigeria and Palestine. Indian films lead with 37 titles, followed by 34 from the U.S. and 19 from the U.K. The festival also features a strong South Asian presence with films from India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. 'Queer,' directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Daniel Craig, will bookend the festival alongside 'Close To You,' directed by Dominic Savage and featuring Elliot Page as lead actor and producer. Other key titles include Dutch film 'Out' by Dennis Alink and 'Odd Fish' by Snævar Sölvason, set in Iceland. Onir's multiple award-winning 'We Are Faheem & Karun' serves as the Indian narrative centerpiece, while Romanian entry 'Three Kilometers To The End Of The World' by Emanuel Parvu is the international narrative centerpiece. The festival pays tribute to late patron Shyam Benegal with a screening of his 1983 classic 'Mandi,' starring Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Neena Gupta, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Soni Razdan and Amrish Puri. Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz
Arab News
17-05-2025
- General
- Arab News
Indian state honors ‘elephant whisperers' from Oscar-winning documentary with special village
NEW DELHI: India's elephant caretakers in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, whose roles were brought to global attention in an Oscar-winning documentary, were honored with a special village by the local government as part of an effort to recognize their dedication to the conservation of the mammals. The story of a mahout couple in Tamil Nadu who devote themselves to caring for an orphaned baby elephant was central to 'The Elephant Whisperers' film, which became the first Indian documentary to win an Oscar in 2023. Since the documentary brought the role of the mahouts — a Hindi word for elephant caretakers — to the international spotlight, the Tamil Nadu government has been working to further empower and honor them. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the Mahout Village at the state's Theppakadu Elephant Camp. Dubbed the first of its kind, the special area comprises 44 houses for each of the mammals' keepers and their families. 'The film 'The Elephant Whisperers' played an important part in building the houses for mahouts, there is no doubt about it,' Supriya Sahu, additional chief secretary for environment, climate change and forests in Tamil Nadu, told Arab News. 'We will make sure that the people, the indigenous community who take care of our elephants, are also suitably taken care of. That is the idea behind (this program). It's a tribute to them.' Built at a cost of about $670,000, the houses at Mahout Village use solar lights and fences, and were constructed in consultation with the mahouts. The area also comes with communal facilities, including a basketball court and a kids' playground. Mahouts have long been integral in wildlife conservation across many South and Southeast Asian countries. India is home to some 30,000 Asian elephants, representing at least 60 percent of the species' global population. Tamil Nadu itself is home to about 3,100 elephants. With the buzz around 'The Elephant Whisperers' following its Oscar win, Bomman and Bellie, the couple from the Kattunayakan tribal group who were featured in the film, had urged the government to consider building houses for the mahouts. 'One good thing that has happened is the documentary brought attention to the indigenous people who have been taking care of elephants for generations,' Bomman told Arab News. 'The houses are really a recognition for those who have been taking care of elephants and helped in the preservation of nature.' For C. Maari, a 52-year-old mahout, the Oscar-winning documentary helped show the possibility of human-wildlife coexistence. 'The documentary no doubt highlighted our issues and the world outside came to know that humans and animals understand each other, and can coexist together if we don't intrude in each others' space,' Maari told Arab News. He is hopeful that the new housing will help his community better take care of the elephants. 'I am really happy that I got the house. Earlier, we used to live in a hut without any facilities inside the jungle. We used to struggle for basic amenities, like toilets and other facilities,' he said. 'For generations, we have been friends with elephants and we understand their needs. Both of us have been surviving together for generations and the houses are the recognition of our contribution in maintaining the animal world.'
India Today
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
India's Elephant Whisperers celebrate first-ever mahout village. Watch video
Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, home to India's oldest elephant camp, witnessed a moment of quiet magic recently, as IAS officer and environmentalist Supriya Sahu reunited with Raghu and Bommi, the elephant calves who captured global hearts in the Oscar-winning documentary 'The Elephant Whisperers'.But this wasn't a formal inspection. It was a homecoming of the long ago, the world watched spellbound as Raghu and Bommi's story unfolded on-screen, a tale of orphaned calves and the gentle, grounded humans who raised them with unwavering The film, a moving ode to human-animal bonding, shone a spotlight on the Theppakadu Elephant Camp in Tamil Nadu, where caretakers known as mahouts and cavadys become lifelong companions to the elephants they tale, however, didn't end when the credits rolled. India's Elephant Whisperers celebrate first-ever mahout village. Watch video In the dappled sunlight of the Nilgiris, life continues, quieter but no less meaningful. And now, a new chapter unfolds. A reunion is captured in a photograph that needs no Sahu offers sugarcane to Raghu, who gently accepts it, his eyes mirroring the innocence of trust hard-earned. Bommi, ever calm, stands close, watchful, serene, and safe.A CAMP WHERE WOUNDS HEALadvertisementAt the heart of this reunion is the Theppakadu Elephant Camp, nestled within the Mudumalai National Park. It remains a sanctuary not just for Raghu and Bommi, but for dozens of elephants who arrive bearing wounds, some inflicted by the wild, others by humans. Here, amid ancient trees and flowing rivers, those wounds are tended with patience and many of whom have spent lifetimes working in tandem with these gentle giants, offer more than food and shelter; they offer continuity, companionship, and a future. COEXISTENCE IN THE WILDTamil Nadu's story of compassionate conservation isn't a solitary one. Over in Assam's Golaghat district, local communities have quietly become champions of coexistence, opening corridors, reducing conflict, and learning to walk alongside the elephants who share their land. It's a model for human-wildlife harmony that India, and the world, can learn not every chapter is hopeful. In one viral video shared by IAS Sahu earlier, an elephant is seen chewing on discarded plastic, a moment of heartbreak that starkly reflects our ecological scenes jar us into remembering that we are not just stewards of the wild, we are, far too often, its greatest realities, both tender and tragic, form the complete portrait of elephant conservation in India, where moments of joy exist alongside calls for urgent remains unshaken is the silent, soulful dialogue between humans and elephants, a bond formed not through power but through empathy. It is a relationship that endures through droughts and downpours, fame and forgetfulness, pain and Supriya Sahu's visit reminds us, caring for elephants isn't a seasonal duty, it is a sacred Raghu and Bommi's journey be more than a film. Let it be a living story. Let it call us to action, to awareness, to awe. Let us listen—truly listen, to the whispers of the Watch
New Indian Express
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
TN CM Stalin dedicates new houses to mahouts at Theppakkadu
NILGIRIS: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday handed over keys to newly built houses for mahouts and kavadis (assistants) at the Theppakkadu elephant camp in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), recognising their service in caring for captive elephants. A total of 44 houses, built at a cost of `5.06 crore, were inaugurated during his visit. It has been named Mahout village. Members of the tribal community welcomed the chief minister with traditional music and dance performances. Stalin, who is on a five-day tour of the Nilgiris district, also planted a sapling and interacted with Bomman and Belli, the tribal couple featured in the Oscar-winning documentary 'The Elephant Whisperers'. He later fed sugarcane and fruits to captive elephants, including Bama and Kamatchi, and posed for photographs alongside them.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Stalin opens ‘Mahout Village' at Theppakadu elephant camp
Udhagamandalam : Chief minister M K Stalin inaugurated ' Mahout Village ', a cluster of 44 eco-friendly houses constructed at a cost of Rs5.06 crore for mahouts and cavadies, at Theppakadu elephant camp in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris on Wednesday evening. He handed over the house keys to the mahouts and inspected one of the new houses in the also flagged off 32 new vehicles, which were bought at a cost of Rs2.93 crore, for the forest range officers across the the elephant camp, the chief minister had a look at the food that was kept ready for the elephants. He then watched the elephants being fed by their mahouts. Stalin also enjoyed feeding sugarcane to Bama, the oldest elephant at the interacted with 44 mahouts and cavadies at the camp and took a group photo with Sahu, additional chief secretary, department of environment, climate change and forest, said, "The new houses are eco-friendly and in harmony with local building traditions."M Maran, a mahout, said, "We are happy to have the houses with all the basic facilities. The advantage is the houses are located close to the camp. This gesture of the govt motivates us to further indulge ourselves with the camp elephants for the betterment of the camp."Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve houses another 47 greenhouses for the mahouts and cavadies. Those were built at a cost of Rs4.04 crore. This housing project for the caretakers of camp elephants was announced by Stalin in March 2023 during a ceremony to felicitate the mahout couple Bomman and Bellie, who featured in the Oscar-winning short film ' The Elephant Whisperers '. All the elephant caretakers belong to tribal also inaugurated a newly installed aerial bunch cable, a first of its kind in Tamil Nadu, between Thorapalli and Theppakadu for a distance of 15km, to safeguard the wildlife from bare wire connections in the forest was greeted by the public, including children, at various places on his way to Theppakadu from Ooty.
