Shaunak Sen on HBO launch of ‘All That Breathes’: Thrilled to affix the roster

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Director Shaunak Sen, whose documentary “All That Breathes” is ready to display on the Cannes Film Festival, says it’s a proud second for him that the documentary has been acquired by HBO.

The documentary, which gained the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize on the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is ready to display within the Special Screening section at Cannes, shall be launched within the US later this 12 months by Submarine Deluxe, in affiliation with Sideshow.

After its theatrical run within the US, the 90-minute-long movie will debut on HBO and streaming service HBO Max in 2023, in keeping with Variety.

“All That Breathes” follows two siblings, Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who’ve devoted their lives to rescuing and treating injured birds, particularly the Black Kites.

Working out of their derelict basement in Wazirabad, the Delhi brothers are the central focus of the movie and their story zooms out to doc a bigger snapshot of the town, the place the air is poisonous and the bottom is on a slowburn of social turmoil.

“The astonishing story of Saud and Nadeem, and their relationship with the majestic raptor called the ‘black kite,’ took us three years to shape. Over time, the story became symptomatic of both Delhi’s ecological and social malaise, while also giving glimpses of a rare resilience,” Sen mentioned.

The filmmaker, who’s an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia University and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), mentioned he’s thrilled that his movie has joined the HBO roster, which is full of high-quality cinematic programming.

“Most of us in the crew in India have grown up associating the unmistakable white noise of the HBO logo with high-quality cinematic programming. We’re thrilled to join their roster and to work with Sideshow and Submarine Deluxe to bring this story to a global audience,” he added.

Dan Braun of Submarine Deluxe hailed “All That Breathes” as “one of the great discoveries of the year”.

“Filled with humorous and heartbreaking moments in equal measure, ‘All That Breathes’ is a stunning achievement and announces Shaunak Sen as a major voice in cinema today. We are proud to partner with HBO Documentary Films to bring the film to the public,” Braun mentioned.

The movie is produced by Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer with David Guy Elisco and Sean B Carroll serving as government producers.