All That Breathes (2022)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Kite Attendants

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

This extraordinary documentary follows brothers Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammad Saud, along with their assistant Salik Rehman, as they run a clinic for birds known as "black kites" in Wazirabad, Delhi. With glorious compositions befitting any fiction film, director Shaunak Sen links the birds' health problems with the shockingly polluted landscape. In one amazing shot, the camera tracks along the ground, capturing an increasingly large population of rats. The interactions and moments are so natural and low-key that it often seems like scripted drama, and it's mesmerizing… and terribly moving.