Delhi-based filmmaker Shaunak Sen's "All That Breathes" wins Best Documentary at Cannes

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• May 29, 2022 | Poonam Nath

Shaunak Sen's 'AllThatBreathes' won the top documentary award at the Cannes Film Festival amidst the Indian glitz.

Digital Desk: 'All That Breathes,' a documentary by Delhi-based filmmaker Shaunak Sen, received the L'Oeil d'Or (Golden Eye) for best documentary at Saturday's 75th Cannes Film Festival.

Its the second year in a row that an Indian documentary has won this prestigious prize. 

Payal Kapadia of Mumbai won the L'Oeil d'Or last year for her film 'A Night of Knowing Nothing.'

'All That Breathes' chronicles the lives of two brothers, Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad. They manage a bird hospital in Delhi dedicated to saving injured black kites, according to an International news agency reports, citing 'Variety'. Thousands of tiny critters descend from Delhi's smog-choked skies every day, and the two 'kite brothers' look after them.

According to 'Variety,' the link between the family and the neglected kites offers a beautiful chronicle of the city's deteriorating ecology and widening social fault lines as environmental toxicity and public unrest rise.

The 90-minute documentary won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Cannes.

"L'Oeil d'Or belongs to a film that, amid a world of ruin, reminds us that every life matters, and every modest action matters," the Cannes jury wrote in the award citation. It doesn't matter if you grab your camera, save a bird, or go on a hunt for some moments of stolen beauty."

"It is an inspirational adventure in observing three Don Quixotes who may not save the world but do save their world," the jury concluded.

Sen's second project is 'All That Breathes,' which follows his 2016 documentary 'Cities Of Sleep,' about homeless individuals looking for a place to sleep in Delhi.

Anurag Thakur, India's Minister of Information and Broadcasting, complimented Shaunak Sen on his achievement. He penned, "At the Cannes Film Festival, Indian director Shaunak Sen received the 'L'Oeil d'or' award for his documentary "All That Breathes." I am confident that this would motivate future Indian documentary filmmakers to achieve international success."

Shaunak Sen's Film "All That Breathes" is India's sole participation in the festival. The film was one of the festival's Special Screenings selections. A panel convened by acclaimed Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland announced the winner.

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