Kartiki Gonsalves is an Indian filmmaker and photojournalist, who came into the limelight on 13 March 2023 after his short film The Elephant Whisperers (2022) won Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards.
Wiki/Biography
Kartiki Selena Gonsalves was born on Sunday, November 2, 1986 (age 36 years; in 2022) in Ooty, Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, India. His zodiac sign is Scorpio. He completed his schooling at St. Hilda in Ooty and St Michael’s Academy. In 2004, he enrolled at Dr GR Damodaran College of Science (Autonomous) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, where he pursued a bachelor of science degree in design and visual communication in 2007. He pursued a post-graduate diploma in photography and filmmaking at the Light & Life Akademi in Tamil Nadu from 2007 to 2008. There, he was trained by Iqbal Mohamed using the camera.
Kartiki Gonsalves childhood picture with his father
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 4″
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Family
Kartiki Gonsalves was born into a Christian family in Tamil Nadu.
Parents & Siblings
His father, Timothy Aloysius Gonsalves, is a computer engineer and director of the Indian Institute of Technology-Mandi (IIT-Mandi). His mother, Priscilla Tapley Gonsalves, holds a PhD in Eastern European History and is from America. He has an older sister named Danica Gonsalves.
Photo of Kartiki Gonsalves (seated in the middle) with his mother, father, and sister
Address
Kartiki Gonsalves resides at Windermere, 23 Ethiraj Road, Door 3/142, Plot 9, VGP 1st Main Road, Ooty – 643001, Tamil Nadu, India.
Career
While talking about the beginning of his career in an interview, he said that he pursued a job in advertising after completing his formal education. After that, he stopped to pursue wildlife photography. However, he quit wildlife photography and started working as a filmmaker because he saw no future in it, especially in India. Later, he started working as a tour guide in Bengaluru to make ends meet. Speaking about it, he said,
I entered the field of advertising after graduation. I eventually quit to pursue wildlife and social documentary photography, working as a tour guide to support myself financially. But I soon realized that photography in the area I was interested in didn’t have much scope In India at the moment. I realized filmmaking was a tool I could use to reach out to the world… I believe powerful imagery has the power to change minds.
In September 2008, after completing his formal education, Kartiki Gonsalves started working with the IIT Madras Foundation as a design and photography consultant. He worked there till July 2009. He worked with Fabindia Overseas Pvt Ltd in Bengaluru as a store manager from July 2009 to February 2010. After that, he joined a gym in Bengaluru, where he worked as an assistant. He joined Zela Luxury Health Club in Bengaluru in February 2010 as design and photography executive/customer service executive. He worked there till November 2010. In August 2011, he joined an advertising company called Black Coffee Advertising in Bengaluru and worked there as an art director and photographer till September 2014. From August 2014 to October 2015, he worked in Bengaluru at Fisheye Creative Solutions as senior art director. Kartiki started his journey as a photographer while in school. In one article, he wrote that at first he used to take pictures of his parents’ eyes and shoot with a Minolta camera. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he began taking pictures on Canon EOS TI and Fuji Finepix digital cameras. In September 2016, he was appointed as a CoalitionWILD ambassador. He started working as an imaging artist at Sony in April 2018. After that, he was appointed by Sony as the Sony Imaging Ambassador for the Sony Alpha camera series. On 31 December 2018, he founded Earth Spectrum, a platform that raises awareness about nature and culture, in Mumbai and assumed the position of director of operations. In January 2019, Wildcraft India appointed Karitki Gonsalves as its brand ambassador. In January 2020, he started working with Peak Design as its ambassador. In 2021, he started working with Swarovski Optik, an Austrian company that manufactures various types of optical instruments. Later, he accepted an offer to work as a cameraman in a wildlife documentary shot in Uttarakhand. In an interview, he talked about the documentary and said that since he had never made a video using a camera, he learned the method of using a videographic camera while working on the film.
Kartiki during the shoot
He has also worked as a cameraman for an episode titled The Asiatic Black Bear from the series On The Brink, which aired on the National Geographic Channel.
A picture of Kartiki Gonsalves taken while he was shooting for The Asiatic Black Bear
He has made conservation documentaries such as Metaphor Island – A Pattern for Survival from the Nilgiri Highlands and My Mollem : Goa’s Green Heart’ : Goans Fight to Save their Forest and Livelihood. Kartiki Gonsalves made his directorial debut with the 2022 short film The Elephant Whiperers, which won an Oscar in 2023, under the Best Documentary Short Film category. The film depicts the relationship between tribal couple Bomman and Bellie and their elephants, Bommi and Raghu. The Elephant Whisperers is the first Indian documentary short to win an Oscar. The film is on Netflix and produced by Guneet Monga. While giving his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, Gonsalves said,
I stand here today to speak about the sacred bond between us and our natural world. To respect the indigenous community. For entities against other living beings, we share our space with. And finally for coexistence. Thank you to the academy for recognizing our films that feature indigenous people and animals. To Netflix for believing in the power of this film. To Guneet my Producer and my entire team and finally, to my mom dad and sister up there, you are the center of my universe. To my homeland, India.” 
In an interview, when asked about his upcoming project, Kartiki said that he is working on a film based on the relationship shared between an Orca (killer whale) and its handler.
Awards & Honors
- On March 13, 2023, Kartiki Gonsalves won an Oscar for his film The Elephant Whisperer, under the Best Documentary Short Film category. He shared the award with Guneet Monga.
Photo of Kartiki Gonsalves taken with his Oscar Award
- Kartiki Gonsalves is an Associate Fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP).
Facts/Trivia
- Kartiki Gonsalves is a hodophile (a person who likes to travel), and he has traveled to many countries.
- Kartiki Gonsalves is an avid animal lover. He has a pet dog named Rusty. He also has a Belgian Malinois named Delani and a cat as well.
Pictures of his pet Belgian Malinois and his pet cat
- His favorite cinematographers include Emmanuel Lubezki, Terrence Malick, Louie Psihoyos, Orlando von Einsiedel, Jeff Orlowski, David Attenborough. Gabriela Cowperthwaite, and Ron Fricke.
- Kartiki Gonsalves has written articles related to wildlife and culture for well-known newspapers and magazines such as The Hindu and National Geographic. In 2020, he published an article titled The Places In-Between, which is based on a small village located close to the Line of Control (LOC) called Turtuk.
Kartiki Gonsalves with children in Turtuk
- On 9 May 2023, Kartiki Gonsalves and Bomman and Bellie of The Elephant Whisperers fame visited the MA Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk in Chennai, where MS Dhoni presented them with personalized jerseys.
Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni presenting a personalized jersey to Kartiki Gonsalves on May 9, 2023
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
