Tag: chicken

Becoming Bird is a short film about the miraculous embryonic development of a chicken inside its egg, from fertilized egg cell to hatching. In the film, we observe the developing embryo in remarkable detail: the appearance of veins carrying streaming blood and a beating heart, the development of the brain, eyes and other organs, the embryo’s first movements, the emergence of feathers, and finally the hatching of the chick. It is an emotional journey, filmed by Jan van IJken with extraordinary precision and detail.

Eggs and chickens are consumed all over the world, yet few people have witnessed the miracle of life unfolding inside an ordinary egg. The embryonic development normally takes 21 days, but in the film this process is condensed to nine minutes through the use of time-lapse photography and filming.

Becoming Bird (2026, 4K, color, 09:20)

Filmed, directed and produced by Jan van IJken
Edited by Jan van IJken and Metje Postma
Music by Sytze Pruiksma
Audio Mix by Harry Zwerver
With the generous support of HatchTech Group and Hatchery Beunder

World Premiere:
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, CZ, Short Joy competition 23 October – 1 November
https://dafilms.com/program/1867-short-joy-2026

Screening date:
28th October 2026, 13:30, DKO II Cinema, Jihlava

Dutch Premiere:
IDFA Amsterdam, NL, section Signed, 12-22 November 2026
https://festival.idfa.nl/film/f85a13b2-fe50-4c1f-abfd-caa1980bf17b/becoming-bird/

Screening dates to be announced