Sangita Iyer

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Sangita Iyer
LowerRez.jpg
BornSangita Iyer
Kerala, India
NationalityCanadian
CitizenshipCanadian
Occupation(s)Author, Wildlife Filmmaker, Broadcast Journalist, and Biologist
Website www.vfaes.org/more-about-sangita

Sangita Iyer is an Indian-born Canadian author, broadcast journalist, writer, biologist and documentary filmmaker. [1] She is known for her advocacy on wildlife conservation, especially for wild elephants, and for exposing the atrocities against Asian elephants by religious institutions. She is the founding executive director and president of the Voice for Asian Elephants Society, which was created in 2016 with the aim of protecting wild and captive elephants of India.

Contents

Iyer's debut documentary film, Gods in Shackles , was based on the treatment of captive elephants in Kerala. The film was nominated for portraying the torture stories of captive elephants in the name of festivals at the United Nations General Assembly, featured at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and has received over a dozen international film festival awards. [2] [3] The documentary was inspired by the encounters and witnesses gathered by Iyer. [4] Here recently released book, Gods in Shackles - What Elephants Can Teach us About Empathy, Resilience and Freedom ranked the #1 Best Seller list on Amazon, since its release on February 8, 2022. She is also a National Geographic explorer, [5] and has produced a 26-part short documentary series about Asian elephants, using the National Geographic Society storytelling award. [6]

Early life and education

Sangita Iyer was born in Kerala, India. [7] Iyer pursued her career in journalism in 1999 as a health and environmental journalist. She completed her MA degree in environmental education and communication [7] in 2012. [8] She has also completed post graduate studies in Broadcast Journalism. [7]

Career

Iyer worked in Kenya, where she taught at a Nairobi girl’s secondary school. [9] She produced reports related to nature and wildlife for Discovery Channel science-news programme Daily Planet . [9] She moved to Toronto, and worked at CTV Toronto, and afterwards as a videographer at OMNI Television. [9] She co-founded the Bermuda Environmental Alliance in 2008, which wounded up in 2014. [10] She founded the Voice for Asian Elephants Society in 2016. [11]

Film making

In 2013, Iyer began to document the elephants in Kerala that are exploited by religious institutions, and created the documentary film Gods in Shackles  (2016), which portrays the suffering of temple elephants during cultural festivals. [12] [13] She decided to make the film after witnessing the torture faced by the elephants during a trip to India in December 2013. [14] The documentary, which she produced and directed between 2013 and 2016, was opened to positive reviews from critics, nominated at the United Nations General Assembly and won 13 international film festival awards. [15]

Book

Gods in Shackles: What Elephants Can Teach Us About Empathy, Resilience, and Freedom [16] [17]

Awards and recognition

Controversies

In November 2019, a petition was filed by Viswa Gaja Seva Samithi organisation in the Kerala High Court to prevent Iyer from conducting a mahout (elephant care) training summit called "Gentle Giants Summit" at a government-owned elephant rehabilitation centre in Thiruvananthapuram. [25] The plea claimed that she was a foreign national in contrast to the national policies and was also accused of misusing the official emblem of Kerala state government in the brochures for the three-day workshop.[ citation needed ] However, Iyer presented her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card, affording her the privileges of Indian citizens, [26] [27] [28] [29] and the Kerala Forest Department had granted her the use of its emblem in their partnership on the summit.[ citation needed ]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kallungal, Dhinesh (28 December 2018). "Interview | Canada-based Sangita Iyer was inspired to participate in Kerala Women's Wall campaign in support of women's rights". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ↑ Ramnath, Nandini (16 July 2016). "Documentary 'Gods in Shackles' on temple elephants is an eye-opener". Scroll.in. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  3. ↑ Gavin Haines, Travel writer (5 July 2016). "New documentary exposes brutal treatment of India's temple elephants". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Poorvaja, S. (21 July 2016). "Highlighting the plight of Kerala's captive elephants". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "Sangita Iyer".
  6. ↑ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (10 August 2021). "Sangita Iyer's 26-part docu-series 'Asian Elephants 101' will be telecast on World Elephant Day". The Hindu.
  7. 1 2 3 Dodo, The. "Sangita Iyer". The Dodo. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  8. ↑ "Elephants, Women and Subjugation by Sangita Iyer - Creations Magazine". 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 "Sangita Iyer Biography | Booking Info for Speaking Engagements". www.allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  10. ↑ Hendrickson, Sekou (9 September 2020). "Sangita's plight to save the elephant" . Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  11. ↑ Singh, Ayesha (8 November 2020). "Is filmmaker Sangita Iyer the answer to the brutal treatment of India's temple elephants?" . Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  12. ↑ "The woman trying to save India's tortured temple elephants". BBC News. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Gods in shackles: Plight of temple elephants". The Times of India. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Seeing the Mistreatment of Elephants in India Was Haunting". HuffPost Canada. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  15. ↑ Naha, Abdul Latheef (17 January 2019). "A moving work on gods in shackles". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "Sangita Iyer | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  17. ↑ "'Gods in Shackles': Elephants, Empathy, Freedom, and Justice | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "Sangita Iyer | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  19. ↑ Wright, Alex (15 September 2008). "Iyer talks of work/life balance experience" . Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  20. ↑ "Latest News | Bermuda Zoological Society". bamz.org. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  21. ↑ "Sangita Iyer, Author, Elephant Conservationist". Eventbrite. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  22. ↑ Singh (9 March 2017). "Nari Shakti Puruskar Awardees: Full List". BestCurrentAffairs.com. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  23. ↑ Kallungal, Dhinesh (12 August 2023). "Indian elephants hog limelight at Nasdaq closing bell ceremony". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  24. ↑ "Voices for Asian Elephants Rings the Nasdaq Stock Market Closing Bell". Nasdaq.com. 2 August 2024.
  25. ↑ "Kerala HC seeks government views on plea against summit on elephants". The Times of India. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  26. ↑ "Row erupts over Thanneer Komban investigation team after allegations over nexus involving probe team". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  27. ↑ "A mammoth move". The New Indian Express. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  28. ↑ "Why Kerala must protect its elephants: 3-day summit in state involves stakeholders". www.thenewsminute.com. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  29. ↑ "Kerala mulls training programme for mahouts by world-renowned experts". The New Indian Express. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
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