PANAJI
New York-based Goan Malaika Vaz, a National Geographic explorer, has won the ‘Green Oscars’ of the wildlife filmmaking industry. She bagged the U W E Wildscreen Panda On-screen Talent Award for her documentary ‘Sacrifice Zone'.
A television presenter, director and producer of documentaries for National Geographic, BBC, Al Jazeera, Discovery and Animal Planet channels, the Saligao-born Malaika is co-founder of production house Untamed Planet. The Wildscreen Festival is a global gathering of conservationists, storytellers, and stakeholders of the wildlife storytelling fraternity. The Wildscreen Panda Awards are held annually in Bristol in October.
A student of Sharda Mandir and Mahindra's United World College, Malaika has been awarded the Goa State Youth Award and National Youth Award in the past. A recreational pilot, scuba diver and windsurfing and equestrian exponent, she got into record books at the age of 15 for being the youngest to go on expeditions to Antarctica and Arctic. She also is an accomplished speaker invited across the globe. Back in Goa, she spoke at the D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas when she was 21.
