SINGING WINGS is the absolutely delightful debut feature doc from director Hemen Khaledi. It features the warm and spiky seventy-something matriarch Khadijeh, living with her family in contemporary Iran. She cares for her elderly husband, goes fishing with her grandkids, and stumbles upon caring for an injured stork that cannot join its mates on the great migration. A local vet gives her advice on her to bring it back to health. Meanwhile, in a rather on the nose comparison, Khadijah's daughter is trying to migrate too.
I cannot put a finger on why this film transfixed me so. Maybe because it's so rare to get a glimpse into contemporary rural life in Iran, as opposed to the cosmopolitan urban life of Tehran. For sure, there was something in the way Khadijah reminds me of my old Asian aunties, even in the way she dresses and cooks. I love the scenes with her husband, alternatively bickering and caring. Despite being so old, Khadijah has a real energy to her, and her need to see the stork migrate is really touching and weirdly involving. Finally, the lensing is beautiful. Wherever this film is set, the landscape, mountains and wide expansive skies are quite lovely.
Overall SINGING WINGS is a really affecting, surprising and impactful documentary. I note that all of its BFI London Film Festival screenings are already sold out. I hope it gets a distributor.
SINGING WINGS has a running time of 73 minutes. It will play the BFI London Film Festival and is competition for the Grierson Award.
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