PANAJI: Goa-born Malaika Vaz has won the 2016 Wildscreen National Geographic Roar Talent Bursary Award at the recently held Wildscreen festival.
19-year-old Vaz’s short-film “Waghoba”, which depicts real life story of a newly protected forest in Maharashtra, was critically acclaimed at the Festival in Bristol, United Kingdom.
Vaz is an intern student of Bengaluru-based Felis Creations.
“The film is total 17-minute-long. It was shot within a period of around two months in Umred-Kharandala, near Nagpur. Waghoba, is a real life story of a newly protected forest in Maharashtra,” Vaz told PTI here.
The bursary award is given to only one wildlife story teller from across the world.
For the first time in the history of the festival an Indian has bagged this award.
“Waghoba was the film that was India’s entry in the emerging talent category at the festival,” she said.
The film movie was produced Felis Creation’s which had Nitye Sood as the cinematographer.
Vaz said the film spotlights the ground reality of fear and hatred for the tiger by residents within and on the periphery of the forest they are living in.
“In the same breath it showcases the essence of the tigers relevance in the circle of life as well as to its potential to tourism. The essence of the tiger’s reverence in our culture is also positively highlighted in the film,” she added.
The young filmmaker also holds a recreational pilot’s license with over 30 hours of solo flying under her belt.
She said her passion for adventure and wildlife has taken her to all the continents.
Her name features in the Limca Book of Records as the youngest Indian to go to North and South poles. (AGENCIES)
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