‘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.’
Director
Shaunak
Sen
at
the
photocall
for
All
That
Breathes
at
the
Cannes
film
festival
at
the
Palais
des
Festivals,
May
23,
2022.
Photograph:
John
Phillips/Getty
Images/Rediff
Archives
Shaunak
Sen,
the
director
of
Oscar-nominated
documentary
All
That
Breathes,
said
he
is
cancer-free
after
being
diagnosed
with
a
‘malignant
tumour
in
his
kidney’
last
year.
The
filmmaker
shared
a
health
update
on
his
official
Instagram
account
alongside
a
few
pictures
of
him
from
the
hospital
bed
and
his
peers
from
the
industry
who
visited
him,
including
Mira
Nair
and
Tillotama
Shome.
‘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,’
Sen
wrote.
Shaunak
Sen
in
hospital.
Photograph:
Kind
courtesy
Shaunak
Sen/Instagram
‘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,
i.e.
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
said.
‘The
accidental
discovery
was
a
blessing
in
disguise,
it
was
caught
very
early
at
a
low-grade
stage.
Recovering
since
and
regaining
strength,’
he
said.
Sen’s
movie
All
That
Breathes
was
nominated
for
Best
Documentary
Feature
at
the
95th
Academy
Awards
in
2023.
It
won
the
World
Cinema
Grand
Jury
Prize:
Documentary
at
the
2022
Sundance
Film
Festival
and
the
Golden
Eye
Award
for
Best
Documentary
at
the
2022
Cannes
Film
Festival.
