Lucie Bouilleret

For the past 20 years, every July 20th, on the eve of Belgium's national holiday, thousands of people have been gathering on the Place du Jeu de Balle in Brussels. This is the “Bal National”, a unique celebration halfway between festival, carnival and family reunion. The event brings together people from all walks of life, who together define the contours of a certain “belgitude”. Jeux de Bal takes you right to the heart of this joyous collective experience.

Cows With No Name is almost a diary, filmed one day at a time, of each stage of this process, documenting the operation of the farm with critical and incisive humour. But it is also an intimate documentary. By filming scenes of daily life on the family farm, around the kitchen table during meals, or in front of the TV in the evening while everyone falls asleep on the sofa, more personal questions are raised: the farmer’s connection to his herd, or even the handover that Hubert has chosen not to ensure.

For the past 20 years, every July 20th, on the eve of Belgium's national holiday, thousands of people have been gathering on the Place du Jeu de Balle in Brussels. This is the “Bal National”, a unique celebration halfway between festival, carnival and family reunion. The event brings together people from all walks of life, who together define the contours of a certain “belgitude”. Jeux de Bal takes you right to the heart of this joyous collective experience.

Cows With No Name is almost a diary, filmed one day at a time, of each stage of this process, documenting the operation of the farm with critical and incisive humour. But it is also an intimate documentary. By filming scenes of daily life on the family farm, around the kitchen table during meals, or in front of the TV in the evening while everyone falls asleep on the sofa, more personal questions are raised: the farmer’s connection to his herd, or even the handover that Hubert has chosen not to ensure.