Belgian Blue

by Yasmine Versteele Short film  Belgium 2019 18'

In her graduate documentary RITCS, director Yasmine Versteele explores the contemporary relationship between cows and people. Through Belgian Blue, he is able to question the system of production and consumption of industrialized meat and its impact on the well-being and life of cows. A cow. A calf. Animals that are simply useful for the profit of a large company or even endowed with feelings and rights? A different view on breeding, narrated by the animals themselves.


Director:

Yasmine Versteele

Country:

 Belgium

Description

Composed only of still shots, the passive camera observes at length the cows trapped behind the bars of the barn. Each sequence offers slow and static, sometimes unbearable paintings of cows within the industrial domain. Through the device that experiences a slow temporality, the film Belgian Blue questions our conception of the utilitarian animal. Why do we empathize with pets and classify others as the "utility" of consumption? Sometimes, unexpectedly, some look at the lens, and we summon our attention to their plight. Their gaze resonates and runs through the entire film, the last gaze before separation, like that of the mother and her calf, torn off by the farmers. The director takes the viewer as both witness and hostage of the image and forces the gaze towards the unbearable, without escape, again through the device of a long fixed shot. Finally, the spectator is transported like a cow in the barn, helpless.

Film submission

26° Festival

CINEMAMBIENTE

05 June - 11 June 2023
TORINO

Competition registration

 

CINEMAMBIENTE

 
JUNIOR

Subscriptions are now closed

Newsletter