Leonie, Skeet & the piglets

Leonie’s biggest dream is to become a pig farmer. On the farm of her parents she is happily wandering around with her best friend, Skeet the cat. She is always helping out in any way possible: fertilizing the sows, tending to the pigs and help load the fully grown hogs onto the truck that will bring them to the slaughterhouse. The family farm is helping Leonie learn about the circle of life.

However, new laws surrounding nitrogen emissions set by the government are threatening Leonie’s parents’ life’s work, their company, into bankruptcy. Together with her cat Skeet she sees the last pigs disappear from the farm and she realizes that her dream of living as a pig farmer might not come true.

  • Jip Jasmijn Heijenga
    Director
  • Jip Jasmijn Heijenga
    Writer
  • Sofie van van Noten
    Producer
  • Mariëlle Dazler
    Producer
  • Leonie De Reu
    Key Cast
  • Michael De Moor
    Director of Photography
  • Amber van Acker
    Editing
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Leonie, Skeet & de biggen
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Children's documentary
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 17, 2023
  • Country of Filming:
    Belgium
  • Language:
    Dutch
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • JEF filmfestival
    Antwerp
    Belgium
    February 18, 2023
Director Biography - Jip Jasmijn Heijenga

Jip Heijenga (the Netherlands 1993) graduated as a dancer from bachelor dance-maker program at ArtEZ school of Arts in 2014 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. After dancing and choreographing professionally for a year she decided to follow her other passion for film and documentary. In 2018 she graduated magna cum laude from LUCA School of Arts Narafi in Brussel. During her studies she followed one semester at School of Visual Arts, New York. Here she discovered the similarities in making choreography and making film. She has since made various film projects such as a number of music videos and short form documentaries. Some of which have been selected for showings at international film festivals. Her graduating short film “Love Rat” was selected for the acclaimed Film Fest Gent and Short-film festival Leuven.​​​ She is also active as a videographer and directed and shot S1 and S2 of tv-shows Boerenjaar (VIER), Huisgemaakt (VTM) and Ik Vertek (VTM). You can view her complete portfolio at www.jipheijenga.com. Together with screenwriter Fenna van der Goot she forms the writing duo called Studio Bruis: www.studiobruis.com. They are currently developing a fiction series called Drift for streaming platform Streamz. Drift is a refreshing fiction series about a 20-something group of friends in BXL who get lost in their desires for love, sex and adventure.

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Director Statement

Leonie’s world is small. She has only known her life on the farm. For the first time in her young life she is able to see the influences of the wider world. At the top it is decreed that pigs emit too much nitrogen and at the bottom there’s Leonie. A young girl with a big dream that suddenly is falling into pieces. By showing these difficult yet beautiful conditions through the perspective of a girl and her cat, I am convinced young viewers will be able to familiarize themselves with the harsh conditions in which the pig farmers endure. This film shows how to persevere and how Leonie can continually find resilience to come up with new ideas, dreams and solutions for her unstable future.