The film Facing Animals by photographer/filmmaker Jan van IJken will premiere during the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht. This short documentary (30 min) explores the complex and often bizarre relationship between humans and animals in the Netherlands. The film has been selected to participate in the Debut Competition and the Golden Calf Competition.

Why do we refuse to see millions of animals in factory farming, while we pamper other animals and almost anthropomorphize them? In the film Facing Animals, pigs, chickens, cows, and dogs are the main characters alongside humans. We see the world from the animal's perspective: chicks are thrown onto a conveyor belt, a woman cuddles a cow in a pasture, a farmer burns off the tails of piglets in a dark barn, and dogs are blessed in church. The beautiful, confronting images take the viewer on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Facing Animals is the debut film of director Jan van IJken. As a photographer, he has published three photo books: A Touch of Divinity, New Neighbours, and Dierbaar. This last photography project was commissioned by the Rijksmuseum/NRC Handelsblad. His work has been widely published and exhibited both domestically and internationally.

Screening dates Facing Animals:
Saturday 29-09-2012 at 14:00 in Hoogt 1, Utrecht (Premiere)
Wednesday 03-10-2012 at 22:15 in Wolff City 3, Utrecht
Thursday 04-10-2012 at 19:45 in Louis Hartlooper Complex 3, Utrecht

The film has now also been selected for a number of foreign film festivals: Split Film Festival in Croatia, Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada, and Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan.

More information:
http://www.facinganimals.com

Location
Utrecht



How to respond / more information
You must log in to respond