Jan van Ijken

Jan van Ijken

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Most Known for...

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The Art of Flying 2015 (6.6)

Every evening at dusk, starlings—wherever they might be nesting—will flock together to perform one of the most mysterious gestures in the natural world. Flitting to and fro, thousands fly in gyroscopic unison. Scientists still don’t know how the birds avoid colliding with one another in these elaborately choreographed murmurations. This short film makes no attempt to explain the winged ritual. No voiceover interrupts the flow. No score intrudes upon the birds’ own song. The majestic ornithological swirl speaks for itself. As the black ribbon of flight careens back and forth across the evening sky, one truth emerges: This flying isn’t an act of necessity. It’s an act of sublime artistic expression.
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Facing Animals 2012

We see the world from the perspective of pigs, chickens, cows and dogs. With unique access, the stunning visuals take us on a roller coaster of emotions and make us question our strange behaviour towards animals. Why do we look away from millions of farm animals while pampering and humanizing others? With unique access to Dutch factory farms, the stunning visuals take us on a roller coaster of emotions and makes us question our strange behaviour towards animals. Why do we look away from millions of farm animals while pampering and humanizing others?
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Becoming 2018

This minimalist six-minute film looks at the creation of animal life through video and time-lapse footage of an embryo’s development – a process universal to all animals, including people. The film follows, in microscopic detail, the development of an alpine newt in its translucent egg all the way from first cell division to moment of hatching.