CinemAsia: Singing Wings

In a Kurdish mountain village, life is measured by the rhythmic migration of storks. When Khadijeh finds a stork with a wounded wing, she becomes consumed by an obsessive quest to nurse it back to health before the flock departs. Meanwhile, her youngest daughter prepares for a migration of her own, leaving the village to join her husband in the United Kingdom.

In his debut feature, director Hemen Khaledi weaves these intertwined migratory paths to explore the poignant parallels between animal and human movement. The film captures a world where modernity is steadily altering the rhythm of tradition. Through the sensitive, witty portrayal of the vivacious Khadijeh, Khaledi moves beyond a simple rescue story to pose a profound existential question: whether to stay or leave, and the struggle of knowing when to hold on or let go.