All That Breathes director Shaunak Sen reacts to film losing BAFTA Award to Navalny in Best Documentary category

India’s only hope in the 2023 BAFTA Awards – documentary feature All That Breathes – stumbled at the final hurdle. The film, which was nominated in the Best Documentary category, eventually lost to Russian documentary film Navalny. The film’s director Shaunak Sen reacted to the ‘sobering’ loss on social media hours after the ceremony.

Hosted by Richard E Grant, the BAFTA Awards 2023 were held at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday night. Apart from All That Breathes and Navalny, the other nominees in the Best Documentary category included her All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Fire of Love, and A House Made of Splinters. All That Breathes has also been nominated for the 2023 Oscars.

Sharing some pictures from the Oscars nominees luncheon that he attended, Shaunak wrote about the BAFTA loss as well. “Belated photos from the nominees luncheon – but as if to balance the excitement of that day, the rather sobering update is that we didn’t win either at the DGAs nor the BAFTAs. Hugest congratulations to our friends whose films won.”

All That Breathes follows the lives of two brothers — Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad — who run a bird hospital in Delhi dedicated to rescuing injured black kites. The two ‘kite brothers’ care for thousands of these creatures, which fall daily from Delhi’s smog-choked skies. All That Breathes had also won the big prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The film will have another shot at glory at next month’s Academy Awards. The Shaunak Sen-directed documentary will again be competing against All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, A House Made of Splinters, Fire of Love, and Navalny at the Oscars. The award ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on March 12.