CIAP CINEMA: CERES

CERES (BE/NL: Janet van den Brand, 2018, 73’)
Q&A with filmmaker

CERES is a poetic documentary about four young children who experience the cycle of life on a farm. Filmmaker Janet van den Brand will be personally present for a Q&A.

Ceres is a poetic yet realistic documentary that follows four children as they experience the natural cycle of life on a farm. Each child lives on a remote farm in the southwest of the Netherlands and is learning the profession of their ancestors from a young age. 

They each dream that one day they will take over the farms of their father or grandfather. Although this dream is never doubted, as they reach the early years of puberty the outside world begins to intrude on their universe. 

As the seasons go by, crops are sown and harvested and animals are born and slaughtered. The children are confronted with the volatility of nature, the threat of extreme weather conditions and the cycle of life and death.

In 2018, CERES was selected for the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. The film was also shown on Visions du réel in Switzerland, Hot Docs in Canada and Docville in Leuven. At Film by the Sea the film won the PZC Film Award, at Cinekid it was nominated in the category for best Dutch family film.