history or the workings of the Edhi Foundation, rather, the film captures how Omar spends his days while in the home with other runaway children. These Birds Walk steers away from statistics and social context of child runaways in Pakistan. However, Tariq and Mullick felt that statistics would oversimplify the role of the people in the film, and Tariq said, “They have trusted us with their lives. And we would sidestep it all for this idea of ‘relevance’ or ‘social context.’” The film is also an example of cinema vérité since the filmmakers present the story as they observed it. The film relies on the children’s pure emotion rather than on voiceover commentary or talking heads to tell the story. Critical response These Birds Walk was met with largely positive reviews. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 96 percent rating and an average rating of 8/10 based on 27 reviews. Vadim Rizov of Filmmaker Magazine said, “It’s more rough than tender but never gratuitous or exploitative, hard to shake, and a fine entry in cinema’s history of tortured male youth.” Adam Nayman of Point of View Magazine praised Tariq and Mullick for their use of handheld digital cameras, which “permit an even greater proximity and intimacy with the subjects. As a contemporary example of the practice of ‘direct cinema,’ These Birds Walk is extremely impressive.” Tom Roston of PBS said at the True/False Film Festival, "This seemingly simple vérité depiction of boys in a Pakistani orphanage has a lyrical quality that shows the beauty and sadness of growing up poor in Pakistan." Accolades References External links 2013 films American documentary films Pakistani documentary films Documentary films about Pakistan Films shot in Karachi 2013 documentary films 2010s American films