A Dairy Story begins its UK theatrical release tonight at the Cameo Picturehouse in Edinburgh.
The Edinburgh opening launches a run of Green Screen events at Picturehouse cinemas, with Q&A screenings following in Exeter, Bath, Henley and Brighton through August, after a preview in Norwich in July. Each screening is accompanied by a panel discussion, with farmer David Finlay joining audiences at selected dates alongside representatives of the film’s partners, Compassion in World Farming, and farmers now running cow-with-calf systems of their own.
The release marks a milestone for a film that began as a two-person project in Dumfries and Galloway. A Dairy Story was produced, written, directed and shot by Lorna Young and Ian Findlay of Laverock Productions, filmed at Rainton Farm near Kirkcudbright. Its route to cinemas has been equally independent: after a festival run that included Best Feature Documentary wins at IndieCork and the Unisphere Film Festival in New York, the Audience Award at Central Scotland Documentary Festival and a successful regional release across Dumfries and Galloway earlier this year, the film is being distributed by its makers.
Beyond the Picturehouse run, independent cinema bookings are building across the autumn, from The Poly in Falmouth to N.30 in Huntly, with more dates being added weekly. The release is a touring one, scheduled around the farming calendar so that the farm team can join audiences where diaries allow, and cinemas interested in booking the film will find details on our For Cinemas page.
Full listings, updated as new dates are confirmed, are on our screenings page.
What you told us
Audiences told us they left A Dairy Story feeling inspired. Over half were new to the cinema they saw it in, and nine in ten would go back.
Audience survey launched as community screenings approach
A one-week audience survey has been launched alongside the film’s published distribution plan, ahead of community screening bookings opening on 18 October.
The Distribution Plan
As our festival run ends, find out where A Dairy Story is on its distribution journey, including roughly when it will be available for community screenings in the UK and around the world.