A documentary feature about one couple's determination to find a way to keep dairy cows and their calves together.
Every day, thousands of dairy calves are separated from their mothers at birth. Wilma and David Finlay risk everything to prove there’s another way. A Dairy Story shows how changing a farming system changes everything; from the lives of the animals to the wellbeing of the farmers, and perhaps the future of dairy farming itself.
A Dairy Story is now screening in UK cinemas, and is available for booking. If you programme for a cinema and would like to bring it to your screen, you’ll find everything you need on our For Cinemas page.
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Help us prove there’s demand for change in the dairy industry. If you believe cow-with-calf dairy should be the new normal, please sign the pledge to add your pin to the map!
An award-winning film
“As well as being beautifully shot, it displays strong narrative storytelling, a compelling ecological and compassionate message and a heartwarming — and ultimately heartbreaking — human journey.” IndieCork Film Festival Judges
- Louis Marcus Award for Best Documentary, IndieCork Film Festival 2025
- Audience Award, Central Scotland Documentary Festival 2025
- Special Commendation Documentary Feature, Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival 2026
- Best Feature Documentary, Unisphere Film Festival, New York 2026
IMDb reviewers said:
“Nothing short of stunning. It’s how a documentary should be done.”
“At its heart, it is a film made with — and quietly about — love.”
“A moving and inspiring tribute to David and Wilma’s pioneering work.”
“What an unexpected gem!”
Festival Success
Latest news
The Distribution Plan
As our festival run ends, find out how you can bring the film to your own community screenings in the UK and internationally.
A full house and a cheeseboard in Keswick
More than 100 people came to the Alhambra Cinema in Keswick on Sunday 27 September to watch A Dairy Story and put their questions to David, the farmer at the heart of the film.
Best Documentary Award at Twelve Lions Film Festival
A Dairy Story has won Best Documentary at Twelve Lions Film Festival in Lexington, Kentucky, screening in the 800+ seater century-old Kentucky Theatre.
Why this story matters
At a time when our food systems face unprecedented scrutiny, A Dairy Story offers a window into a farming innovation that brings a wealth of ecological and animal welfare benefits.
Wilma and David’s approach, keeping dairy calves with their mothers, challenges fundamental assumptions about dairy farming while proving that compassion and commerce can coexist.
There are around 7,000 dairy farms in the UK. Only 21 of them follow cow-with-calf management systems and Rainton – David and Wilma’s farm – is the farm that proved cow-with-calf dairy could be done at commercially viable scale.
This family farm in southwest Scotland now finds itself the global epicentre for rethinking the ethics of dairy farming, challenging conventional wisdom about animal welfare, profitability, and environmental sustainability in equal measure.
Set against the sweeping beauty of the Galloway landscape, A Dairy Story is both a poignant portrait of two remarkable people and a hopeful vision for agriculture’s future.