Chickens, Virus and Us

Kanad, viirus ja meie

The filming started in March 2020, at the onset of the coronavirus crisis, when the family with three children took refuge in the mountainous countryside. While surfing the internet, the children found a video from an Asian food market. The camera wanders through the marketplace showing dissected snakes, rats and other wild animals. They were shocked to see overcrowded cages full of cats and dogs destined for slaughter. Reflections on the relationship between humans and animals lead them to the decision to adopt chickens and keep them as their local neighbours do. These chickens are pitiful; they look different from the hens in the neighbours' garden, and the children want to find out why. They want to know why people treat animals so ruthlessly. Day after day, the children learn to take care of their chickens. They get advice from experienced breeders. As they reflect on the differences between domestic and industrial livestock, the amateur chicken breeders discover that there are politicians proposing a ban on caged hen breeding in the Czech Republic.