Shaunak Sen

Shaunak Sen is a Delhi-based filmmaker and scholar whose work operates at the intersection of ecological observation and the intimate rhythms of urban life. Trained in film studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Sen possesses a keen eye for the poetic dissonance between the sprawling, chaotic landscape of modern India and the quiet, interior lives of its inhabitants. His approach is defined by a patient, observational rigor that seeks the extraordinary within the mundane, transforming the act of witnessing into a profound cinematic meditation on memory and persistence. His career reached international prominence with the feature-length documentary All That Breathes, a luminous portrait of two brothers in Delhi dedicated to rescuing birds of prey. The film garnered widespread acclaim for its painterly visual language and its ability to weave complex themes of environmental precarity with personal devotion. Following its debut, the project captured the prestigious Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Eye at Cannes, cementing Sen as a singular voice in contemporary non-fiction—a director who captures not just the world as it is, but the fragile, invisible connections that hold it together.