The documentaries “All We Breathe” and “Haulout” highlight the devastating impacts of climate change caused by human activities and their addiction to fossil energy sources. The first focuses on pollution in India which is impacting the health and daily lives of its residents, while the second looks at melting sea ice in Siberia and its impact on local animal species. With shocking images and moving testimonies, this documentary reminds us of the importance of acting to preserve our planet and reminds us of the important responsibility we have as human beings.
In addition toAvatar: Waterway, other films related to environmental defense have been nominated for Oscars. This documentary warns of real destruction on Earth. Among them, Everything we breathe And transportation tackles complex issues to highlight the damage caused by human-caused climate change and its reliance on fossil fuels.
transportation, directed by two members of the Yakut community (Maxim Arbugaev and Evgenia Arbugaeva), focuses on the disaster that befell Siberian walruses due to melting ice. Marine biologist Maxim Chakilev is responsible for studying the migration of this species on the Russian Arctic coast. The film features stunning footage showing 100,000 walruses crowding a previously deserted beach. But behind this amazing spectacle lies a sad reality: walruses no longer have any choice but to congregate there because of the shrinking of the ice pack. This overpopulation has deadly consequences, as animals collide with each other.
This is the first Yakut documentary to be nominated for an Oscar. The filmmakers hope to contribute to the conversation about “the plight of our planet,” said Evgenia Arbugaeva. According to him, having a local perspective allows you to achieve “something very personal (…), you speak about your own heart and the broken heart of your community”.
Documentation Everything we breathe, by Shaunak Sen, is set in India and explores the devastating effects of pollution on animals in New Delhi, where the air is among the dirtiest in the world. The film follows three men at a self-funded veterinary clinic treating birds injured by the toxic haze around India's capital. They even dared to rescue a bird whose wing was broken in the middle of the river. The documentary also looks at how birds learn to eat rubbish and sing higher to communicate amidst the noise of Delhi traffic.
According to Shaunak Sen, there should be more documentary films about the environment, considering that the condition of the planet Earth needs attention. The director urges other filmmakers to embrace new perspectives to tell more sophisticated stories that make us think about the planet, rather than focusing on gloom, doom and despair. The film begins with shots of a pile of rubbish and gradually reveals the flora and fauna that have learned to thrive in this dirty environment.
transportation, for its part, opens with the beauty of nature before revealing the tragedy resulting from the disappearance of an ice floe. The walruses arrived exhausted at the crowded beach and many of them buckled under the weight of their comrades. In one heartbreaking scene, a malnourished walrus calf rubs against the body of its dead mother, before weakly trying to swim towards the sea. While filming, Evgenia Arbugaeva remembered her hands shaking because she was so emotional and crying. Sometimes certain sequences cannot be used. Important and crucial moment. But it's very difficult.
