Now booking across the UK
Title: A Dairy Story
Runtime: 78 minutes
BBFC: PG (Trailer rated U)
General Release: 4 August 2026
Q&As and Speaker Panels: Available, where diaries permit
Aspect Ratio: 2:1
Sound: 5.1
Language: English (closed captions available)
Available Formats: DCP, with file delivery when venue system allows
Distributed By: Laverock Productions Ltd, contact us at sales@laverockproductions.com
The film
Should a newborn dairy calf be separated from its mother? It’s the most divisive question in dairy farming. At Rainton Farm in south-west Scotland, one couple decided to do things differently.
A Dairy Story follows David and Wilma Finlay as they abandon conventional methods and build the first farm in Europe to make a cow-with-calf dairy system commercially viable.
What begins as a question of animal welfare opens into climate, environment, and ultimately something far more personal: a story about change, about trusting nature, and about the time we have together.
Why programme it
A Dairy Story is a documentary feature with a strong narrative arc that answers a real appetite from audiences who want a film about how we farm and eat that doesn’t end in despair. It will be of interest to audiences who enjoy films such as Six Inches of Soil, Kiss the Ground and My Octopus Teacher.
The film is independently made and independently distributed, with audience mobilisation and marketing support from partner organisations, with growing support from across food, farming and culture.
A Dairy Story is building a committed following online and through its global pledge map, where you can see audience interest mapped to town level and gauge demand in your own area before you book.
To book, email us on sales@laverockproductions.com with your venue and preferred dates and we will confirm availability and send a short booking form and licence agreement. We supply the film and a marketing pack including poster, stills, synopsis and trailer. Terms are typically 50% of net box office, or a minimum of £100 per venue, whichever is greater.
Individuals connected with the film are available for in-person Q&As where diaries allow. A recorded Q&A will be available from early autumn.
Review screener
Cinema programmers can watch A Dairy Story now in the Film Hub Wales Preview Room. If you are outside the network, email us and we’ll send you a secure link.
Want to see A Dairy Story near you?
The surest way to bring A Dairy Story to a cinema near you is to ask for it. Cinemas listen to their local audiences, and when a few people ask for the same film, it tells a programmer there’s an audience already waiting. It carries far more weight coming from you, a local film-goer, than from us.
So if there’s a cinema you’d love to see it in, here’s a message you can send. Copy it, add your cinema’s name, and send it to their programming or info address, which you’ll usually find on their website. Do feel free to add a line about why you’d like to see it, because that personal touch makes all the difference.
Subject: A film I’d love to see at [cinema name]
Hello,
I’m a local film-goer and I’d love to see A Dairy Story at [cinema name]. It’s a new independent documentary touring UK cinemas, about a pioneering farming couple in south-west Scotland who risked everything to keep dairy cows and their calves together. I think it would find an audience here.
You can watch the trailer and book the film directly at adairystory.com.
Thank you for considering it,
[Your name]
Every message helps. And if you’ve already added your pin to the pledge map, this is the natural next step. Thank you.