All That Breathes

In Delhi two brothers care for injured birds in a basement. Nadeem and Saud have been treating black kites for years; the birds fall out of the sky because pollution, glass and kite string bring them down. No veterinary practice in the city will take them. With their helper Salik the brothers work with what they have: instruments adapted from a soap dispenser and methods learned online. In the same period the argument over the citizenship law grows in the city and violence breaks out in the neighbourhoods. Shaunak Sen directs. The documentary dates from 2022. It won the grand jury prize at Sundance and the documentary award at Cannes, and was nominated for best documentary at the Oscars. What is most striking is the photography; the camera watches animals more than people and the city is heard continuously as a noise in the background. The idea the film builds is not to make distinctions; as one of the brothers says, everything that breathes shares the same air. The political background is nowhere explained; the news comes from the radio and the narrative passes no comment. The working conditions in the basement are shown in detail and the documentary does not present them as heroism. Its limit is pace; the narrative is deliberately slow and there is almost no plot. Who it is for: viewers who like observational documentary and work on the relation between nature and the city. Who it is not for: the structure is loose, little information is given, and the film avoids explaining.