Document These Birds Walk

Youth Programme

These Birds Walk
Dirs. Omar Mullick & Bassam Tariq, Pakistan 2013, 77m.

In Karachi, Pakistan, a runaway boy's life hangs on one critical question: where is home? The streets, an orphanage, or with the family he fled in the first place?

Filmed over nearly three years, These Birds Walk is the story of Omar, a high-spirited young boy of 9 or 10 who is living in a house for runaways; he has fled his difficult rural home life for the dangerous streets of Karachi, and is trying to find a safe haven somewhere amidst the chaos of his country and his family.

Attempting to help him is Asad- a young ambulance driver and former street kid, he sees something of himself in these children, and reluctantly but regularly risks his life to reunite them with their families.

Simultaneously heart-wrenching and life-affirming, These Birds Walk documents the struggles of these wayward street children and the samaritans who look out for them in an inspirational story of personal resilience.

Vigilance in Filmmaking Award, Nashville Film Festival 2013 / Special Mention Best Documentary, Zurich Film Festival 2013