Hen (in-person & online)

Ioannis Kokiasmenos, Maria Diakopanagioti, Argyris Pantazaras

A determined Leghorn chicken – played by eight real-life chickens named Eszti, Szandi, Feri, Enci, Eti, Enikő, Nóra, and Anett – flees her wretched life on a Greek industrial farm in cult director György Pálfi’s (Hukkle, Taxidermia) adroit, impressive Hen. Part goofy comedy, part thriller, part emotive drama, it’s shot from its feathered heroine’s point of view as she escapes certain dangers within a factory farm only to find new perils lurking without.

Our plucky protagonist finds her way to a crumbling seaside restaurant. At first it seems a place of refuge, but there, she quickly becomes witness to the human tragedies unfolding around her, chiefly the predation and cruelty of the migrant crisis.

Drawing parallels between people’s ill-treatment of animals and each other, Hen recalls Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO and Andrea Arnold’s documentary Cow in its effective and compelling use of an innocent animal protagonist – imbuing them with real emotion and personality – to shed light on broader systemic issues.