Vikramaditya Singh is an award-winning filmmaker based in New Delhi, India. In tandem with his work with Wild Media, he is the founder of the film production company Elefant.

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Primarily focused on conservation, environmental issues and human/animal co-existence, his work from South Asia has been featured by the likes of New York Times, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, and France24.

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Vikram won Best Documentary Short at the ALT-Environmental Film Festival with Elephants In My Backyard, and in 2021, he was selected as a BAFTA Breakthrough Directing Talent from India.

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Stevie Cannell, our copy writer in residence spoke to Vikram Singh to get a beastly low down:

SC: Let’s address the elephant in the room… Speaking on your new documentary, Elephants in My Backyard, why elephants?

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VS: I've always been fascinated by how people and animals share space. India is one of the most crowded places on the planet in terms of people, but also has incredible amounts of wildlife that still exists and coexists with people. Elephants in My Backyard is the story about how as development picks up, and as people get more possessive about land, it seems like it's getting harder and harder for them to share space with animals.

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SC: Tell me about the most unexpected moment that work has taken you to.

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VS: So I'm now working on a project, not about elephants, but about camels. They are swimming camels. What was kind of unexpected was seeing just how, graceful these animals are in the water. The guy I was working with said “Why don't you get in the water with them?”. I wasn't quite prepared for that, but I had a GoPro with me and I suddenly found myself swimming with camels. The footage is great. But also the experience of doing that was pretty spectacular.

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‍SC: How have you seen the South Asian arts and culture landscape has shifted, morphed and changed in the past decade or so?

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VS: This has always been a part of the world that's been incredibly rich and diverse culturally. I think the combination of that heritage and the fact that you've got these new platforms to support young artists (festivals, residencies, grants) now becoming more prominent in this region, it's been a really explosive chemical reaction. In that sense, those two things coming together means you're seeing a lot of really expressive art, artwork, and artists.

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I love working as a filmmaker here because there's inspiration all around us. It's a place where things speak to you. It's been incredible to see how much progress has been made.

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SC: What’s an item you never set foot on job without?

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VS: Gaffer tape. Honestly, you need Gaffer tape – that's non-negotiable. If you've got good Gaffer tape, it will find uses for itself.