Zoya Akhtar backed award-winning documentary Turtle Walker to open ALTEFF 2025

The highly anticipated environmental documentary Turtle Walker is set to open the All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF), which will take place from December 4 to 14, 2025.

Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, and Taira Malaney have teamed up with the Oscar-winning HHMI Tangled Bank Studios for Turtle Walker, a documentary that has made waves across the global festival circuit, receiving immense love and praise from audiences around the world.

The highly anticipated environmental documentary Turtle Walker is set to open the All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF), which will take place from December 4 to 14, 2025. ALT EFF is recognized as India’s foremost decentralized and impact-driven environmental film festival, bringing together diverse voices and powerful storytelling that spark dialogue, awareness, and action on climate and conservation issues.

Turtle Walker has toured the world since its world premiere at DOC NYC in 2024, stopping at major film festivals like the Hamptons International Film Festival and the Raindance Film Festival (UK premiere), in addition to a special screening at the United Nations Ocean Conference.

The film has earned multiple accolades, including the Best Film Award in the International Competition at AFO, the Conservation Award at the International Ocean Film Festival, and dual honors — ‘Conservation’ and ‘Grand Teton’ Awards — at the Jackson Wild Media Awards, the highest recognition in nature and environmental filmmaking.

Marking the directorial debut of Taira Malaney, Turtle Walker tells the extraordinary story of Satish Bhaskar, a pioneering Indian conservationist who dedicated his life to protecting sea turtles. Beginning in the late 1970s, Bhaskar set out on an ambitious journey across India’s coastline, living among rare sea turtles as he sought to understand and safeguard these endangered creatures. Through its stunning visuals and deeply moving storytelling, the film captures the urgency of preserving marine life amid growing environmental threats.

“We are so honoured to be sharing Turtle Walker at the opening night of ALTEFF this year. Satish Bhaskar’s story has illuminated in me a deep wonder for our marine world, and more importantly a renewed sense of hope at a time when I needed it most,” said director Taira Malaney.

Producer Zoya Akhtar shared her thoughts, saying, “Turtle Walker is a tribute to a man’s quiet heroism. Satish Bhaskar’s journey reminds us how deeply special every living being on this planet is, and we are excited to have it showcase at ALTEFF — a festival that supports and champions the environment and wildlife.”

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Adding to this, Reema Kagti expressed, “This film captures both the fragility and resilience of nature, and is a story that needs to be told to as many audiences as possible. ALTEFF is a great platform for this Indian-rooted story to be told, and we are delighted that it is the opening film of the festival.”

With its visually stunning cinematography, heartfelt narrative, and powerful environmental message, Turtle Walker is poised to set the tone for this year’s festival — celebrating the strength of cinema as a tool to inspire awareness, empathy, and action for the planet.