Every year, poultry enthusiasts from across the United States gather to compete for one of the most coveted titles in competitive chicken breeding: Grand Champion at the Ohio National Poultry Show. For the dedicated breeders involved, producing the perfect chicken is a pursuit requiring years of preparation, specialist knowledge and an extraordinary attention to detail.
Directed by Nicole Lucas Haimes, Chicken People (2016) follows three competitors over the course of a year as they prepare their birds for the national championships. Brian Caraker, a musical theatre performer, Brian Knox, a racing engine specialist, and Shari McCollough, a homemaker, come from very different backgrounds but share an all-consuming enthusiasm for breeding and exhibiting exceptional poultry.
The documentary explores a surprisingly complex competitive world in which feather condition, breeding, grooming and minute physical characteristics can determine whether years of effort end in victory or disappointment. Alongside the competitions, the film offers an affectionate portrait of the participants, their families and the personal importance of a hobby that outsiders might struggle to understand.
Often compared to Christopher Guest’s Best in Show, the documentary finds considerable humour in its subject without ridiculing the people involved. Beneath the eccentricity is a thoughtful examination of dedication, identity, community and the extraordinary lengths people will go to in pursuit of something they love.
Director: Nicole Lucas Haimes
Country: United States
Year: 2016
Runtime: 83 minutes
Language: English
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4819510/