All That Breathes director Shaunak Sen reflects on his cancer treatment and struggles: 'the cancer is out of me'

Shaunak Sen during his cancer treatment.

Shaunak Sen, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes, shared on Sunday that he is cancer-free after being diagnosed with a malignant kidney tumor last year.

He posted a health update on Instagram, including photos from his hospital bed with industry friends like Mira Nair and Tillotama Shome. He penned in the caption, "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 tumor in the kidney. Utter bolt from the blue."

The director further mentioned that he successfully underwent the 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,” he continued in the post.

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While most people celebrated Diwali, Christmas, and New Year with family and friends, the director found himself grappling with his health in the hospital. “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.

He concluded the post by writing, "Never had a better excuse for all acquaintances complaining about my going awol in recent months - my pujo, diwali, christmas, new years were all in a hospital room. And here's some blurry bad photos of friends who made it all tolerable, alongside the excellent surgeons. (P.s - the masked men in picture 1 are the protagonists of All That Breathes. "

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Shaunak Sen's 2022 film All That Breathes earned a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the 95th Academy Awards in 2023. The film also 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.