A LOST CHILDHOOD

IT never rains but it pours.

- NAMRATA JOSHI

The adage holds true for the family at the core of Turkish filmmaker Seyhmus Altun's debut feature film, As We Breathe that had its world premiere in the Discovery section of the recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival.

Mehmet (Hakan Karsak), who works in the maintenance department of the local chemical plant doesn't just lose his job when a fire engulfs the factory in the aftermath of an explosion, but life has a way testing him relentlessly as new problems keep getting added to the older, unresolved ones.

An ill older son Eyup, aging mother, stuck payments, the disagreements with fellow workers, a decrepit car, limited financial means in the face of a larger economic downturn, rejected bank loans, disease hit cattle his cup of woes just keeps running over.

The biggest challenge comes in the form of the dense and ominous cloud of smoke that envelops the village. As strong winds keep stoking the fire, he and the fellow residents are left with the threat of having to eventually evacuate. In the midst of it all the seminal question doesn't get addressed by the authorities: why isn't anyone doing anything about the fire?