In Varun Chopra’s Oscar-contending documentary short Holy Cowboys, the director offers a peek into a side of India’s societal structure on how the cow, a sacred and holy animal to the majority Hindu population, is being protected from slaughter by a growing group of Hindu nationalists. Winner of the Grand Jury prize at the 2022 DOC NYC, Holy Cowboys introduces viewers to the world of cow vigilantism through the eyes of a Hindu teen and his friends from a small town, Vapi, in the state of Gujarat.

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