Dominion | |
---|---|
Directed by | Chris Delforce |
Written by | Chris Delforce |
Produced by | Chris Delforce, Farm Transparency Project |
Narrated by | Joaquin Phoenix Rooney Mara Sadie Sink Sia Kat Von D |
Edited by | Chris Delforce |
Music by | Asher Pope |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Dominion is a 2018 Australian documentary film. The documentary was primarily filmed with hidden cameras and drones inside Australian farms and abattoirs. According to the New York Times, Dominion "claims to expose the routine and inhumane practices of animal agriculture in Australia". [1] The film portrayed the killing of livestock through methods such as using carbon dioxide to gas pigs, and maceration of chicks. [2] [3] [4] The film uses shock tactics with footage to depict abuse as common in multiple industries in Australia, especially agricultural livestock while focusing its message on animal rights. [5] [3] [6]
Dominion was managed by the animal protection and animal rights organisation, Farm Transparency Project, previously known as Aussie Farms, and was written, directed, and produced by animal rights activist Chris Delforce. [3] The film was funded through crowdfunding campaigns and the Australian animal rights organisation Voiceless. [3] It features narration by the actors Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara and Sadie Sink, as well as the singer Sia. [7] It premiered in Melbourne on 29 March 2018. [8] It was filmed to be a feature-length documentary sequel to Lucent (2014), which mostly focused on the Australian pig farming industry. [9]
Following its release, Dominion received the award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2018 Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival, and Delforce won Best Director at the Festigious International Film Festival. [3] Dominion has been used as a focal point for vegan protest groups, who encourage the general public to watch the documentary. [2]
Australian farmers have been critical of the film, seeing it as an "attack on Australian farming". [1] The Australian Meat Industry Council Chief Executive, Patrick Hutchinson, has said, "What the film shows is not representative of the practices of the wider industry", [9] while the president of the National Farmers' Federation Fiona Simson recognised that there was "room for improvement" by industry to improve animal welfare practices. [9]
Intensive pig farming, also known as pig factory farming, is the primary method of pig production, in which grower pigs are housed indoors in group-housing or straw-lined sheds, whilst pregnant sows are housed in gestation crates or pens and give birth in farrowing crates.
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix is an American actor. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, The New York Times named him one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
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Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms, also known as factory farming, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production, while minimizing costs. To achieve this, agribusinesses keep livestock such as cattle, poultry, and fish at high stocking densities, at large scale, and using modern machinery, biotechnology, and global trade. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption. There are issues regarding whether intensive animal farming is sustainable in the social long-run given its costs in resources. Analysts also raise issues about its ethics.
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Animal welfare and rights in South Africa is about the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in South Africa.
This article is about the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in Australia. Australia has moderate animal protections by international standards.
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Joseph Dominic Armstrong, known professionally as Joey Carbstrong, is an Australian animal rights activist. A former criminal, he has since become an advocate for animal liberation and veganism through social media and public speaking engagements, as well as debates and various televised interviews.
Anonymous for the Voiceless (AV) is a grassroots animal rights organization specializing in street activism formed in April 2016, in Melbourne, Australia. Operating worldwide, Anonymous for the Voiceless now coordinate 100,000 volunteers in 375 AV chapters in 61 countries, with teams of volunteers organising and staging peaceful protest actions called 'Cubes of Truth'. These protests involve volunteers standing in a square formation wearing Guy Fawkes masks while holding screens showing footage of standard practice in the animal agriculture industry with the intention of empowering the public to support animal rights and be vegan.
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There are also documentaries such as Earthlings (Monson 2005) and Dominion (Delforce 2018) that construct their shock tactics with the accumulation of footage of wanton cruelty and abuse in a number of industries (food, clothing, entertainment, tourism, the pharmaceutical and medical research industries, etc.).