SHEEP HERO trailer

synopsis IDFA (168 words)
About 10 years ago, filmmaker Ton van Zantvoort got to know Stijn, an idealist with a cheerful, relaxed nature. Stijn is one of the last remaining Dutch shepherds working in the traditional way. We see the shepherd, his sheep and his three loyal dogs crisscrossing nature reserves and farmlands so the herd can graze the land in an eco-friendly way. But nowadays, little remains of the romance and peace that we associate with the centuries-old tradition of sheepherding. Tenders are increasingly hard to acquire—competition from big companies, cheap East European shepherds and smart machinery make Stijn the expensive choice.

With the camera in his wake, the shepherd roams across picturesque Dutch landscapes, talking passionately about his inventive approaches to preserving his traditional occupation. But even as he tries so hard to keep his company afloat, the same camera captures how the incessant stress transforms him into an embittered man with a quick temper. Tragicomic conflicts alternate with scenes of beautiful nature and Stijn’s pleasantly chaotic family life.

synopsis (294 words)

SHEEP HERO synopsis

Director’s statement

SHEEP HERO director

about Stijn

thanks to
Family Hilgers, Family van Diepen, Martin blaauwgeers, Michael Colart, Tim van delft, Daphne Hogeweg, Patrick learbuch, Bert Klerks, all shepherds and volunteers, traditional shepherds guild, Marcel van Silfhout, Nyeleni forum , Dutch delegation, Sylvia Kay, TNI/ FIAN, Jildou Friso, Elske Hageraats, Lars Veraart, Guus Geurts, ASR estate Harry Breviers, Marianne Oostveen, Radio 1 Langs de lijn, Renze Klamer, Robbert Meeder, RTL4, Herman den Blijker, De Druiventros, family Mutsaers, Accountant Leermakers, Hein Koenraad, Daisy Lane Tilburg, Sabine Wijsman, Michael Wirken, BNN Rare Jongens, Valerio Zeno, Jelle de Beule, Leo Alkemade, The slaughterhouse, Elementary School Tilburg, municipality Goirle, Streekpark Klein Oisterwijk, Fijnproevers en Smaakbarbaren, Neighborhood committee Aarle Poppel, parlour ‘t Moontje, Wouter Verhoeven, Rutger Hesseling, Etienne van Nuland, Koen van Grinsven, Giel van Schaijk, Meike van Zandvoort, Maureen Prins, Marcel Melchers, Stijn van Eekelen, Family van Zantvoort, Radius College, AKv St Joost,
Noortje van de Sande, Anke van Dijen, Wallie Pollé, Jan Rofekamp and everyone that made the film possible.

This film is produced by NEWTON film and seriousFilm in co-production with Omroep Brabant and KRO-NCRV. This film was supported by the Dutch Cultural Media Fund, the Netherlands Film Fund and Brabantse Beauties.

© 2019 NEWTON film | seriousFilm | Omroep Brabant | KRO-NCRV

The documentary SHEEP HERO premiered at IDFA and ended up as the highest scoring Dutch film in the audience award top 10 best of IDFA. At the DOCfeed Film Festival in Eindhoven, the film was shown in 4 venues as the opening film, after which it was theatrically released in more than 70 Dutch movie theaters where it screened for many months. SHEEP HERO received rave reviews with 4 and 5 stars in virtually all major national newspapers and magazines. Internationally, titled SHEEP HERO, the film was selected for more than 150 renowned international film festivals, including Vision du Reel, DOK.fest Munchen, GZDOC, Docs Against Gravity, DOC NYC, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Dokufest, and many other film festivals. On these festivals the film won more than 25 international awards and more than 35 nominations for best film, best direction, best cinematography and best editing, all performed by director Ton van Zantvoort. SHEEP HERO was also broadcast on TV in several European countries and shown in cinemas in Belgium and France under the name NO WAY. The film has reached more than 1 million viewers and has contributed to legislative changes in the Netherlands.
download English presskit as PDF

download Dutch presskit as PDF

1. How long did the project take?
10 years ago I became friends with Stijn. From start to finish it took more than 8 years. We shot over the course of two years. Editing took two years, spanning 80 different versions and 2 picture locks. We did many test screenings with difference audiences.

2. Why did you choose this way of storytelling?
I wanted to tell the story in an observational cinema vérité style, without a voice-over and with very little interviews that would explicitly emphasize the point I am making. We are very close to Stijn and as in direct cinema we become unaware of the camera’s presence. I didn’t want to tell the story too obviously, but rather give the audience the sense that they are discovering the story themselves and with it the heart of the film.

3. What point do you want to make?
Is it possible in our neoliberal world not to follow the flock and to what extent? And if we choose to live differently, is it worth the fight? In the film Stijn discovers that shepherds are being recognized as intangible cultural heritage. But what good is that if they are 30K short each year? Towards the end of the film our seemingly traditional shepherd is being ‘exhibited’ on a TV show called ‘Weirdos’, in an episode about bygone times. What do we really think is important in our society?

4. What artistic choices did you make?
Everything is by choice. I wanted the audience to feel Stijn’s stress and get close to him. I explicitly shot with a wide lens, an 1.7 aperture with lots of DOF and handheld to capture the constant movement and tension of the situation. To emphasize this tension, the film is recorded in twilight whenever possible. The sun is only shining in the beginning, but in the rest of the film there is rain, snow, fog, wind and darkness. Most weather effects such as rain and snow were added in post. During writing I already knew I wanted to color grade everything in a ‘sky on fire / blue and orange’ complementary color contrast which underscores the tension and oppression.

5. What was a problem during the process?
I feel quite lucky with many scenes, as most of the film unfolded as I had anticipated in the years before. For example in the script I wrote “Besides Anna’s husband and father of Midas and Artuur, Stijn in a way is still a child living with his parents. His parents have to clean up his mess.” In the film Stijn is fined because a few sheep droppings were left on the pavement in front of an ice cream parlor. As mom is sweeping up the droppings with a hand brush, the police are writing a report. I do think it has a lot to do with having the nose for being at the right place at the right time. I can’t tell anything about the ending, but I am also satisfied with that.

6. Any challenges during the making?
To show that herding sheep isn’t as romantic as we think, I deliberately focused on Stijn’s moments of stress during shooting. The result however was, when people saw the first rough cut (with Stijn yelling and stressing most of the time), they were taken aback by that side of Stijn. I love Stijn and understand his behavior but the viewers didn’t feel for him the way I wanted them to feel. A struggle during the editing was to create the exact right balance in Stijn’s character: loving and passionate shepherd on one hand, burned out and angry entrepreneur on the other.

Awards