Delhi-based filmmaker Shaunak Sen’s powerful documentary All That Breathes has won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance International Film Festival 2022. It must be noted that All That Breathes was the only Indian film that was selected and screened at Sundance this year.
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Set against the backdrop of Delhi’s air quality and rising social unrest, brothers Saud and Nadeem devote their lives to protect birds known as the Black Kite. Sen’s documentary is both powerful and visceral, evoking a sense of hope even in turbulent times.
“This poetic film delivers an urgent political story while constructing a singular and loving portrait of protagonists resisting seemingly inevitable ecological disaster – with humorous touches punctuated by unsentimental depiction of the animal kingdom. For maintaining its suspenseful tension when portraying the interior struggles of its characters and the contradictions in spirituality and materialism they confront, we present the [World Cinema] Grand Jury Prize to All That Breathes,” said juror Emilie Bujès.
All That Breathes is produced by Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer. Sen made his directorial debut with the feature-length documentary Cities of Sleep (2016) .
