Im not a movie buff, but occasionally something I see stirs me to make a recommendation. When I woke about 30,000 feet above the Congo, I scrolled through a list of movies to entertain the rest of my flight. The cover image of a bird caught my attention.
There are many fine documentaries about wildlife, but the award-winning All That Breathes renders with subtitles a story of bird conservation like a visual poem. To a background of slum-dwelling and ethnic tensions in New Delhi, two Muslim brothers are saving Black Kites brought sick or injured to their clinic in the worlds most polluted city.
Since Indian vultures were unintentionally decimated by exposure to a veterinary drug that persists in cattle carcasses, the kites have filled the vacant niche. Scavenging helps to eliminate rotting food in mountainous landfills that would otherwise be a human health hazard.
Up to twenty or more casualties are brought to the brothers’ hovel every day where they apply splints and potions, caring for them until they fly again or die. Their dedication is inspiring, more so because they werent discouraged by the circumstances of their lives or the lack of training in avian medicine. Their reward was to see birds soaring over the city again, a symbolic meaning for them and service for all in an interconnected world.
