Indian documentary All That Breathes selected for Sundance Film Festival 2022

Shaunak Sen’s documentary feature All That Breathes has been selected for the World Cinema Documentary competition section of the Sundance Film Festival 2022.

The announcement was made yesterday and the feature is one of ten films in the competition section along with documentaries from Sweden, Myanmar, Israel and the UK.

Sen, who previously made the documentary Cities Of Sleep (2016), follows two brothers, Saud and Nadeem, who care for the black kites of Delhi. They tend to the injured birds of prey who are hampered by the city's growing pollution.

The festival's website says of its selection: The film’s patient, roaming camera skilfully uses scale and perspective to draw attention to the interconnectedness of an ecosystem — one that humans are a part of, not apart from. The social unrest that begins to materialize in the streets is seen through the perspectives of the brothers and their family, as well as the insects and animals that share the urban landscape. There is both cruelty and tenderness in nature, and Sen elegantly captures how they coexist, while emphasizing the ways in which all living beings must evolve to survive.

The Hindi-language film will be premiered on 22 January at the hybrid US festival which is being held from 20–30 January 2022. It is the only Indian project selected so far.

The Utah-based festival has announced 82 selections, of which 39 are by first-time directors. Around 3,762 feature films were submitted for the festival.