Winner 2020
Akanksha Sood
Nominations: 2020
Category: Mass Media
Location: Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
About Akanksha: With 18 years of work experience that covers the range and breadth of film production, Akanksha has developed and honed her skills, often in extrem... Read More
Congratulations Akanksha
Our heartiest congratulations to iWGA 2019 winners. We are proud of you and so is the Nation. Keep shining & motivating others.
Work Description
Akanksha is among the few award-winning natural history filmmakers in India. She is known for their extreme passion and brilliant story-telling. With a career spanning over two decades, she has been documenting some of the most rare and endangered species across India. Her films have been televis... Read More
- Winner of the Vulcan Production 2019 Vulcan Visiting World Scholars... Read More
- Juror for the 2018 & 2019 International Emmy® Awards – Documentary ... Read More
- 65th National Film Award given by the President of India to “Mrityu... Read More
- Winner of the 2016 Emerging Producer’s Scholarship for the World Co... Read More
- Winner of the 2018 Platinum Award for Emerging Documentarian at the... Read More
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Project Details
On the Brink is an 8 part series that gives an unprecedented portrait of India’s natural world, exploring species and habitats rarely seen on Indian television. - Winner of the Best Wildlife Film Award (Red Panda Episode) at the Mountain Film Festival 2019 - Nomination for the Purple Frog e... Read More
- On Th Brink
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Project Details
On the thirteenth day, a grand feast is given in honour of the dead. Hundreds of people are invited and this costs the family a good deal of money. Sometimes the poor have to take loans and incur heavy debts which they are unable to repay. The state government has banned death feasts because they... Read More
- Mrityubhoj - The Death Feast
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Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error
Project Details
A conservation outreach film that explores the ecology and behaviour of the King Cobra, a creature vilified, demonised and feared by cultures across the world. Is the King Cobra really a killer that we make it out to be?
- Living with the King
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Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error
Project Details
- Winner of the Best Editing Award (Non Fiction) at the 62nd National Film Awards given by the President of India - Winner of the Best Film on Forest and Wildlife in 2014 at the Woodpecker International Film Festival 2014, India - Nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the 38th International... Read More
- Tigress Blood
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Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error
Project Details
- Green Oscar Finalist for the People & Animal Award and Creative Innovation Award at Wildscreen Festival, 2016 - Nominated for Best Film at the Japan Wildlife Film Festival, 2018 - Official Selection at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, New York, 2016 - Official Screening at the 9th In... Read More
- India's Wandering Lions
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Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error
Work Description X Close
Akanksha is among the few award-winning natural history filmmakers in India. She is known for their extreme passion and brilliant story-telling. With a career spanning over two decades, she has been documenting some of the most rare and endangered species across India. Her films have been televised across the globe, not just for the strong stories and breathtaking visuals, but also for the empathy her work has created towards the natural world and exposed the need for conservation.
Under her banner, The Gaia People, she wants to bring a change, bust myths, showcase the incredible diversity we live with and ignite hope for the future. This is more for the next generation – the future custodians of this heritage. How will they emphasize and protect anything they don't see? We want them to grow up with pride, empathy and responsibility towards the environment. And thus, the first step is to knowing what their natural world holds.
Award X Close
65th National Film Award given by the President of India to “Mrityubhoj – The Death Feast” for Best Editing (Non Feature) in 2018
Award X Close
Winner of the 2016 Emerging Producer’s Scholarship for the World Congress of Science & Factual Producers, Stockholm
Award X Close
Winner of the 2018 Platinum Award for Emerging Documentarian at the World Documentary Festival, Indonesia
About Akanksha X Close
With 18 years of work experience that covers the range and breadth of film production, Akanksha has developed and honed her skills, often in extremely high pressure – high demand settings which range from the jungles to tent pole feature films, crafting scripts to negotiating complex acquisition & co-productions and now to producing and directing her own films. Her films have seen first broadcast on networks like BBC, National Geographic, Smithsonian Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Discovery, Amazon Prime, Animal Planet, PBS US, NDR Nature Films, Public TS Taiwan, KBS South Korea, Arte, France 5, Channel 4, and NHK.
On Th Brink X Close
On the Brink is an 8 part series that gives an unprecedented portrait of India’s natural world, exploring species and habitats rarely seen on Indian television.
- Winner of the Best Wildlife Film Award (Red Panda Episode) at the Mountain Film Festival 2019
- Nomination for the Purple Frog episode at the We The People Film Festival for Best Nature Film 2019
- Nomination for the Great Indian Bustard episode at the CMS Vatavaran International Film Festival for Best Wildlife Conservation Film 2019
- Nomination for the Fishing Cat, Grey Slender Loris and Great Indian Bustard episodes at the International Nature Film Festival Godollo 2019
- Nomination for the Asiatic Black Bear Episode at the IMF Mountain Film Festival 2019
- Nomination for the Grey Slender Loris Episode for the Best Short Film Award at the 54th International Festival of Science Documentary Films Academia Film 2019
Mrityubhoj - The Death Feast X Close
On the thirteenth day, a grand feast is given in honour of the dead. Hundreds of people are invited and this costs the family a good deal of money. Sometimes the poor have to take loans and incur heavy debts which they are unable to repay. The state government has banned death feasts because they are considered a curse for the poor. However, this is not being followed as in the hinterlands of India - Khaps rule, not the law of the land.
Living with the King X Close
A conservation outreach film that explores the ecology and behaviour of the King Cobra, a creature vilified, demonised and feared by cultures across the world. Is the King Cobra really a killer that we make it out to be?
Tigress Blood X Close
- Winner of the Best Editing Award (Non Fiction) at the 62nd National Film Awards given by the President of India
- Winner of the Best Film on Forest and Wildlife in 2014 at the Woodpecker International Film Festival 2014, India
- Nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the 38th International Wildlife Film Festival 2015, USA
- Nominated for Best Wildlife Film at the Asian television Awards 2014
- Winner of the Wildlife Cinematography Encouragement Award & Nominated for Best Animal Behaviour Film at the 12th Japan Wildlife Film Festival, 2015
- Special Screening at the 10th Kiloskar Vasundhara International Film Festival, 2016
- Official Invite to the 40th International Ecology Festival, Czech Republic, 2016
- Official Screening at the Parco Della Brughiera Briantea, Italy, 2016
- Official Screening at the 24th DC Environment Film Festival, 2016
- Nominated for Best Film in the Indian Panorama at the 8th CMS International Children’s Film Festival, 2015
- Placed at the Bud Werner Memorial Library for Award Winning International Wildlife Film
India's Wandering Lions X Close
- Green Oscar Finalist for the People & Animal Award and Creative Innovation Award at Wildscreen Festival, 2016
- Nominated for Best Film at the Japan Wildlife Film Festival, 2018
- Official Selection at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, New York, 2016
- Official Screening at the 9th International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerela, 2016
- Finalist for Best Film on People & Nature at the 13th Jacksonhole Wildlife Film Festival, 2015
- Nominated for Best Film on Wildlife at the 8th CMS Vatavaran International Film Festival, 2015
- Nominated for Best Film on Forests & Wildlife at the 3rd Woodpecker International Film Festival, 2015
- Highly Commended Wildlife Film & Best Documentary (One Off) at the Asian Television Awards 2015
- Official Screening at the 24th DC Environment Film Festival 2016 as part of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Anthropocene: Life in the Age of Humans Series
