Eendjes voeren

On the face of it, feeding ducks is a harmless and often touching activity, carried out all over the world, mainly by brittle old ladies and small children in the presence of their encouraging (grand)parents. Particularly in Holland with its many ditches, canals and ponds it is a popular form of recreation. Director Eugenie Jansen looked in the archives of the Cine Film Museum and gathered amateur films with feeding ducks as their theme. The images date from twenty years ago to the start of last century. Jansen connected the cheerful and mostly endearing fragments and produced a sweet feel-good documentary. However, the story told in voice-over - by means of interviews - puts a different complexion on this leisure activity. It turns out that feeding ducks - and especially on the current scale - has tragic consequences for the delicate biological balance, even in city parks and ponds.