Shaunak Sen, the director of the Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes, recently revealed that he is now cancer-free. He shared that he was diagnosed with a malignant tumour in his kidney last year.
The filmmaker posted a health update on his Instagram handle, along with pictures from the hospital. Some pictures also capture his industry peers such as Mira Nair and Tillotama Shome visiting him.
"Bit of an absurd update. October end, during a checkup for an autoimmune thing I got a shock diagnosis: a routine scan revealed a small malignant tumour in the kidney. Utter bolt from the blue," he wrote.
He went on to explain that he underwent successful surgery in December. "No kidney-related symptoms, no hereditary history, no big history of drinking/smoking. Urgent surgery was advised. On the 26th of December, I had a partial nephrectomy, ie a part of my kidney was removed. (it was converted from robotic to an open surgery midway, so there's a dramatic Cronenbergian gash in the belly.) It was successful, the cancer is out of me," Sen shared.
"The accidental discovery was a blessing in disguise, it was caught very early at a low-grade stage. Recovering since and regaining strength," he added.
ICYDK, Shaunak Sen's 2022 documentary All That Breathes was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 95th Academy Awards in 2023.
The film also won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Eye Award for Best Documentary at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.