All That Breathes film review — rapturous documentary about rescuing raptors

This oneiric, rapturous documentary eschews conventional reportage techniques, arguably to its detriment at times. The opening minutes unfurl in long, slow, deep-focus shots of an urban nightscape full of stray dogs, rats and other critters. Then, the human dimension slowly comes into focus as we meet quarrelsome brothers Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad and their co-worker Salik Rehman. Together they run a New Delhi animal rescue centre for birds out of an industrial unit that also makes soap dispensers.

The team are especially passionate about the kites that scavenge food from landfill sites and rubbish on the city streets but suffer, like the brothers’ own children, from the sky-high air pollution levels. Meanwhile, there is rioting, which goes unexplained, and a constant low-level anxiety about war with Pakistan breaking out.

The kite protectors soldier on, almost wilfully oblivious to anything other than their self-appointed mission to save these feisty raptors. At one point, they mention how their lives were changed by an article in the New York Times. Reading it before seeing the film (directed by Shaunak Sen) will help fill in some of the knowledge gaps but, even if you don’t, this remains a mesmeric if melancholy work.

★★★★☆

In UK and US cinemas from October 14