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The documentary All That Breathes by Delhi-based director Shaunak Sen will premiere in the Special Screening category at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, the festival’s organizers said Thursday as they published the official lineup of the film gala. The 10-day festival, which is regarded as one of the most renowned gatherings of movie talent from across the world, will also feature Hollywood blockbusters such as Top Gun: Maverick and the Elvis Presley biography in its 75th edition.
The festival’s Special Screening session will include the world premiere of All That Breathes by Delhi-based director Sen, according to a statement live broadcast on their official Twitter page. The 90-minute documentary follows Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, siblings who have dedicated their lives to rescuing and treating wounded birds, particularly Black Kites.
The Delhi brothers become the focal focus of the film, working out of their decrepit basement in Wazirabad, and their tale zooms out to depict a bigger picture of the city, where the air is poisonous and the ground is on a slow-burn of social unrest.
The film was awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in January, a film festival that celebrates independent cinema and artists. It is Sen’s second feature film, following the critically praised Cities of Sleep in 2016, which was about homeless people looking for somewhere to sleep in the capital.
There is no Indian film in the Un Certain Regard area, however, Pakistan’s Joyland, written and directed by director Saim Sadiq, is included. Darling, the director’s previous short film, earned the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the 2019 Venice Film Festival.
As already revealed, the festival’s major attractions will be Paramount-Top Skydance’s Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise, and Warner Bros/Elvis, Roadshow directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks. Cruise, who visited the Festival de Cannes three decades ago for Ron Howard’s Far And Away, will also be honored at the event with a unique career homage.
These two big-budget blockbusters will be shown in the Out of Competition section with Three Thousand Years of Longing by George Miller of Mad Max fame, Novembre by Cedric Jiminez, and Masquerade by Nicolas Bedos. The gala will begin on May 17 with the Out of Competition screening of Z (Comme Z) by Michel Hazanavicius.
Hirokazu Kore-eda, the Palme D’Or-winning Japanese filmmaker, will return to the Croissette with Broker, his Korean language debut starring Korean talents Song Kang-ho (Parasite), Bae Doona (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), Gang Dong-won (Peninsula), and Lee Ji-eun, better known as IU.
Broker, along with South Korean master director Park Chan-Decision wook’s to Leave, is included in the Competition section. Park, best known for the Vengeance trilogy and The Handmaiden, received the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Drama Festival for Oldboy and the Jury Prize in 2009 for his vampire film Thirst.
Written by: Saumya Singh
Author’s bio
Saumya Singh is a budding lifestyle and entertainment journalist. She believes that lifestyle journalism is not everyone’s cup of tea. She holds the view that just like hard stories, covering soft stories also deserves their appreciation because it is a part of journalism that appeals to the masses.
