Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes cinematographers Ben Bernhard and Riju Das

All That Breathes follows the story of two brothers in New Delhi,
India who run a home-based bird sanctuary dedicated to caring for
black kites. Black kites are a common bird of prey in the city and
have adapted well to living alongside humans. But as the pollution
and toxic garbage in New Delhi increases, the kites, as well as
other birds, fall ill from smog and other hazards in the urban
environment. Muslim brothers Saud and Nadeem, along with their
friend Salik, found a passion for caring for birds as kids and it
seems like a thankless job as they apply for funding to expand
their work. Director Shaunak Sen worked with cinematographers Ben
Bernhard and Riju Das to simply follow and capture the brother's
day-to-day life, and emphasize the interconnectedness of all things
within a busy urban place like New Delhi. DP Ben Bernhard wanted to
show the coexistence of all the animals in the city and create a
perspective for the audience to see things down at their level. In
fact, All That Breathes opens on a nest of rats living in a traffic
circle in the city, right at a rat's-eye view. Cows, pigs, and
monkeys also live alongside the people, just like the kites, and
adapt to their surroundings. Cinematographer Riju Das recalls
carefully getting closeups of ants and a bottle full of mosquito
larvae. The whole team was rigorous and meditative about taking the
time to capture the beauty of urban wildlife in the city, and they
would pick up the camera to shoot any animals where they found
them. They utilized long, slow pans, a narrow depth of field and
extreme close-ups of animals throughout. All That Breathes is
currently available on HBOMax and is nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Documentary Feature. Find cinematographer Ben Bernhard:
Instagram @ben_bernhard Find cinematographer Riju Das: Instagram
@eyeris_4 Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com
Sponsored by Aputure: https://www.aputure.com/ The Cinematography
Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook:
@cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz