Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes, which looks at the nuances of the human and avian bond, won The Golden Eye award at Cannes 2022
In his documentary, two brothers work out of their crammed-up basement in a village near Delhi NCR as they save kites
There is something really hypnotic about the human-animal relationship, especially human and avian, philosophically as well as emotionally. I found that incredibly interesting and I wanted to explore that,” says filmmaker Shaunak Sen, who has spent the last week under the spotlight, and rightfully so. His documentary All That Breathes has won the 2022 L’Oeil d’Or, also known as The Golden Eye award, at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival 2022.
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Amidst his chaotic schedule of prancing between panels and screenings, Sen finds a small window to speak to mid-day about his real-life film that has bagged the festival’s top prize for documentaries. The Delhi-based filmmaker’s first feature length documentary Cities of Sleep (2015) dived into the infamous “sleep mafia” of Delhi and highlighted how securing a safe sleeping spot often becomes a question of life and death for homeless people in the capital city. This time, he captured the life of two brothers, Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammad Saud, and their work of rescuing and treating birds, especially black kites, out of their basement-turned-bird hospital in Wazirabad, a village in Delhi NCR.
“We read about these two brothers who had saved over 25,000 black kites so far. They were the first ones we interviewed and we stuck with them. Even their crammed and damp basement where they work is inherently cinematic. The story as a whole was like a trifecta of the ecological aspect in a poetic and lyrical form,” says Sen over a telephonic chat from Tel Aviv.
Director Shaunak Sen says he finds the relationship between a human and bird hypnotic
This is not the first time that the documentary has found itself under the spotlight. In January, it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The praise that the film received from the jury at Cannes is also noteworthy. “L’OEil d’Or goes to a film that, in a world of destruction, reminds us that every life matters, and every small action matters. You can grab your camera, you can save a bird, you can hunt for some moments of stealing beauty, it matters. It’s an inspirational journey in observation of three Don Quixotes who may not save the whole world but do save their world,” read the note shared by the jury on the official website.
The director, who is still processing the win and the praise coming his way, says it was humbling even being nominated along some of the best documentary makers. All That Breathes competed against Chilean documentarian Patricio Guzman’s My Imaginary Country, which looks at mass protests that exploded in Santiago in 2019 when citizens took to the streets demanding better democracy and social equality; and, Ethan Coen’s Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind, which presents the story of the great wild man of rock and roll Lewis, among other films.
“This was an unusually difficult film to make, taking over three years and alongside deep personal losses for the crew. We’re thrilled that the film is getting these honours.”
Interestingly, the documentary has had three cinematographers working on it at different stages, something that Sen feels worked in its favour. “Initially, it was Saumyananda Sahi but when the shooting schedule did not match his timeline, we got Riju Das on board. He added a visual grammar to the film with his tilt and pan shots. We were also extremely lucky to work with Ben Bernand, a German filmmaker, who changed the visual grammar with his long cut shots, adding a stillness to the film, which aptly depicts the passage of time,” he shares.
Before setting off to attend yet another panel at the Docaviv International Documentary Film FestivalTel Aviv, Sen admits being overjoyed with the response coming his way for the big win. “Congratulatory messages have also been pouring from actors and filmmakers like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ranveer Singh, Shekhar Kapoor; responses from Vikram Aditya Motwane and Anand Gandhi have been extremely warm.”
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