All That Breathes

The environment in New Delhi is inhospitable to people and animals alike. The air over India’s capital is so thick with pollution, every day birds drop from the sky. At the same time, failing infrastructure and widespread violence plague those living at street level. Still, two brothers, Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, make it their mission to treat the vulnerable winged creatures of this teeming metropolis. All that Breathes, winner of the top documentary prizes at both the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes International Film Festival, is a lovely, at times poetic, depiction of urban fauna and the forced adaptations of living through the Anthropocene. At its center is a portrait of the compassionate humanity still available for the smallest creatures even when faced with the largest challenges. ~TW