Modern British dairy farms must get bigger and bigger or go under but Farmer Stephen Hook decides to buck the trend. Read more …
Instead he chooses to have a great relationship with his small herd of cows and ignore the big supermarkets and dairies. The result is a laugh-out-loud emotional roller-coaster of a film, a heart warming tearjerker about the incredible bonds between man, animal and countryside in a fast disappearing England.
Hook may be the fantasy-farmer of townies' fantasies – ruminative, canny, genial and wistfully affectionate to his animals – but he puts a human, articulate face on the vexed, and vexing, subject of food production.
Gentle and timeless.
A touching snapshot of the world in microcosm.
The hours are long, the work is back-breaking and the rewards modest but this engaging and thought-provoking portrait captures a sense of the farm over the seasons and salutes Hook as a hero of food production.
A film about one man’s fight against the supermarket culture shouldn’t be this touching, but Hook’s devotion to his bovine brood is captivating.
The workings of a modern independent dairy farm prove surprisingly enthralling in this low-key documentary.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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