Our Daily Bread

Unser täglich Brot (Our Daily Bread) depicts a living organism, but one that has been standardised, calibrated and organised in the most rational way possible. Three main categories alternate in the image: animals, sorted and reared in huge sheds (poultry) or slaughtered and cut into pieces (cattle); plants, grown in open fields or in greenhouses, and their mechanised harvesting; and finally, the workers maintaining these agri-food conglomerates, either labouring like robots or mechanically feeding themselves. The camera often frames aisles stretching as far as the eye can see, with a stifling sense of symmetry. This serves to accentuate the glaring contradiction between geometry and living beings. The most striking aspect is, of course, the animal section. Witnessing creatures biologically close to humans being treated in such an automatic and mechanical manner is unsettling. One hardly dares to say it, but there is something about this overly functional system that is reminiscent of the industrial process of the Holocaust. Of course, there is no hatred in the exploitation of the worlds of plants and animals, but you cannot objectify living beings with impunity. Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s film fills us with admiration and fuels our perplexity."" (Vincent Ostria; lesinrocks.com)