Directed by Shaunak Sen
Featuring Salik Rehman, Mohammad Saud, Nadeem Shehzad
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
In select theaters starting October 21

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

The gentle, observational documentary All That Breathes immerses viewers in Delhi, India, where two brothers, Nadeem and Saud, care for Black Kites—small birds that act like vultures—in their basement.

The brothers started saving kites in their garage when they were teens and have since dedicated their lives to the animals that swarm the skies just as rats and mosquitoes and other animals swarm in Delhi. But seeing the birds glide through the air is lovely, and it is easy to see why Saud and their colleague Salik, will swim across a river to save an injured kite. 

The toxicity of the air is causing kites to fall from the sky at an alarming rate. When boxes and boxes of injured birds are brought into the makeshift hospital, it is troubling and overwhelming. All That Breathes chronicles the efforts of the brothers to get funding for their animal welfare operation, and it is concerning when they are operating on a bird and there is a power outage. The meat they feed the kites is expensive—the supplier bemoans he can’t help them more than he already is—and the meat grinder breaks down, too. And then there is the flooding in the basement during monsoon season, where the men step on carefully placed bricks to stay dry. But the brothers persist because they understand the importance of their work.

Director Shaunak Sen emphasizes how the brothers improvise and adapt to their situation, not unlike how the animals in Delhi improvise and adapt to the climate changes in their environment. As a narration indicates, songbirds sing at a higher pitch to compensate for the traffic noise and lizards are growing additional toes. The kite, too, is innovative, using cigarette butts as a form of protection against insects. 

All That Breathes shows the birds in all of their glory. There are remarkable shots of the animals floating in the sky, reflected in water, or picking at food in a landfill, where they eat the garbage. Their faces are very expressive—and quite adorable; it is easy to admire them. In one astonishing moment, a kite swoops down and steals Salik’s glasses right off his face. Another scene has the brothers counseling a neighbor who is dealing with kites attacking them; the birds have built a nest on their rooftop to have their babies and are wary of predators. 

The film also features some drama. Nadeem feels trapped having done this work for 20 years. He wants to travel, and work on things other than the excel spreadsheets he has been focused on as part of their operation. (He also cheats at cricket when they play a makeshift game in the basement hospital, perhaps a sign of his greater frustrations.)

But things do turn around when a New York Times article showcases the brothers’ work and jump starts funding (that had previously been denied) that allows the brothers to build an animal hospital complete with open and closed cages for the kites. 

It is gratifying to see advances made even as the situation for these birds is worsening. All That Breathes lovingly shows that the brothers may be saving the kites, but that the kites are, more importantly, saving the brothers.