The documentary traces the lives of Muhammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad Wildlife RescueД«ut Sen says he did not want to make a political film, nor did he envision All That Breathes as a wildlife documentary. SenвЂ™s first interaction with them gave him his subjects the documentary traces their love for their winged creatures against the backdrop of a capital that is disintegrating in its socio-economic fabric. They are supported by Salik Rehman, who had been a volunteer since 2010, and formally joined the team in 2017. Muhammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad are siblings who rescue birds, especially black kites and treat them at their rehabilitation and rescue centre, Wildlife Rescue, founded nearly 20 years ago in Wazirabad. Looking at the kites circling in the air against the grey sky piqued Sen, who moved on to research more about human-animal relationships, the theme that is central to this documentary.

This was the starting point of the story,вЂќ Sen says about All That Breathes. It feels like the cosmological lungs of the world are failing.

вЂњAs someone who has lived in Delhi, there was always a grey sensorium around me this city has a certain mood where the sun is diffused and the sky is unclear and the whole experience seems hostile to your being. The smoke-filled streets lend an air of grimness to the environment is what inspired the director into capturing this ecosystem. Shot in Delhi, hometown for Sen and most of the team involved in the project, is not just the background of the film it is a character in itself, unfolding in varied ways in front of our eyes. A rescued owl at the Wildlife Rescue centre All That Breathes Set in DelhiвЂ™s grey lanes, against a cacophonous descent into ecological madness, Sen's documentary All That Breathes has been honoured with the 2022 L'OEil d'Or award at Cannes. But it was this claustrophobic space that turned filmmaker Shaunak SenвЂ™s into a fly on a wall as he documented the lives of two brothers and their helper, who work towards saving these injured birds of prey. A dingy basement that is filled with metal machinery doubles up as a ward for injured kites their injuries, caused by glass threads used to fly kites, is a distressing irony.

An urban tale