Brigitte Gothière

Combining poetry, science and emotion, this film traces the history of life, from its cosmic origins to its evolution on our planet, through the wonders of biodiversity and the contemporary challenges it faces. Through spectacular images, Yann Arthus-Bertrand questions the paradoxes of our times and urges a collective transformation to reconcile humanity with nature.

Animal rights activists, whose influence is growing, are working to put an end to humanity’s exploitation of animals. Why continue to kill animals when there are other options? Giving up meat and trying a vegan lifestyle for over 100 days—that’s the challenge filmmaker Mathurin Peschet set for himself. A journey from omnivore to vegan, full of questions about our habits and our society, which he recounts in his documentary “Dans la peau d'un végan”.

How did it come about that we no longer see living beings in farm animals, but objects? Every year, 70 billion farm animals are slaughtered for consumption around the world. 80 percent are kept on large farms. They live crammed together in overcrowded stables, are fattened and finally slaughtered without ever having been in nature. In less than two generations, intensive husbandry has become established worldwide. Researches in Poland, the USA, Germany and Vietnam gets to the bottom of the system and those responsible. The meat industry is subsidized by the state. Corporations, governments and consumers tacitly support a deregulated and dehumanized economic system that makes unlimited consumption of animal products the norm - and with it, animal cruelty. The documentary film describes the triumph of industrial agriculture, in which the animal has to endure unimaginable suffering, becomes a commodity, a raw material that is always available and can be slaughtered and processed at will.

Through discussions with actors and thinkers of animal ethics, Homo Herbivorus explores our relationship to the consumption of products derived from animal exploitation.