Movie profile

Liesjes hok was leeg

In Liesjes hok was leeg (Liesje's pen was empty), Wouter Waayer, now a convinced vegan and Extinction Rebellion activist, returns to the farm in Twente, where he receives another Liesje. We follow the bull calf from its arrival to its departure for the slaughterhouse, some five months later. A search for understanding unfolds between father Jan, the down-to-earth farmer who has devised a system to reduce emissions in barns, and Wouter, the idealist who would love to start a retirement home for cows. Between them: Liesje, a calf that slowly grows into a symbol for everything that conflicts between father and son, tradition and system change, love for animals, and farming.

Directed by Nick Boshuijer