Singing Wings

After its flock leaves it behind to fly south for the winter, an injured stork is nursed back to health in Hemen Khaledi award-winning documentary.

In the small Kurdish village of Darreh Tefi in northwestern Iran, storks nest for the warmer months high up on elevated platforms and roofs, looking out over those below. After the storks migrate south for the winter, 78-year-old Khadijeh discovers an injured stork abandoned by its flock. Already the primary caregiver of her 100-year-old husband, she takes on the role of caring for the stork. Her husband is less than thrilled.

Meanwhile, Khadijeh has to come to terms with her daughter’s own plans to migrate to the UK.

Curator’s note
Viewers might walk away from Singing Wings believing they have just seen a film about the relationship between an injured stork and its carer. It’s true, they have, but there’s more to Hemen Khaledi’s poetic documentary if you look a little closer.

Filmed over a year, four seasons and one migratory cycle, Singing Wings quietly asks: who gets to migrate and who gets to stay? Who is allowed to make a choice and who has the choice made for them? Just like Khadijeh’s care for the stork, this film and these questions are fuelled by kindness.

Singing Wings premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, where it received the Mecenat Award for Best Documentary.