‘A Dairy Story’ won the Louis Marcus Award for Best Documentary at IndieCork Film Festival on Sunday 12 October, following a sold-out world premiere screening at The Arc Cinema in Cork.
The film played to a full house on 11th October, with the screening followed by a 30-minute Q&A session where audiences engaged deeply with the story of Rainton Farm’s transformation to a cow-with-calf dairy system.
Festival programmer Dervla Baker, who introduced the screening, told audiences:
“What I love about this film is that it shows the truth of transformational change - it’s not always an easy journey, but the results can be worth it in the end.”
The Louis Marcus Award is named after the legendary Irish documentary filmmaker Louis Marcus (1936-2024), who was a pioneering figure in Irish documentary cinema for over six decades.
Producer Lorna Young said:
“The response from the Cork audience was extraordinary. People connected deeply with the story - not just the farming innovation, but the courage it takes to challenge convention.”
Director Ian Findlay added:
“Winning the Louis Marcus Award at our world premiere feels like the perfect validation of what we set out to achieve - documenting a remarkable farm and the people who had the courage to change how dairy farming works. The depth of engagement from the Cork audience showed us that David and Wilma’s story resonates far beyond Scotland.”
The documentary chronicles David and Wilma Finlay’s two-decade journey developing Europe’s first commercially viable cow-with-calf dairy system at Rainton Farm in southwest Scotland.
Early reviews of the film have been overwhelmingly positive, with viewers describing it as “a heartwarming documentary about life” and “an unexpected gem” that resonates with audiences far beyond farming communities.
The film will have its UK premiere at Central Scotland Documentary Festival on Saturday 1st November at 7.45pm at the Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling.
Tickets for the UK premiere are available at: macrobertartscentre.org/cs-doc-fest
A Dairy Story opens its independent cinema run
A Dairy Story begins the next phase of its UK theatrical release this week, with fourteen screenings booked at ten independent cinemas from Aberdeenshire to Cornwall and further dates being added. The film is available to screen exclusively in UK cinemas during September and October, and bookings are welcome.
A Dairy Story completes Picturehouse Green Screen run
A Dairy Story has completed its run of Green Screen events at Picturehouse cinemas, closing on Sunday evening at the Duke of York’s in Brighton, the oldest cinema in continuous use in Britain.
A Dairy Story opens in UK cinemas
A Dairy Story begins its UK theatrical release tonight at the Cameo Picturehouse in Edinburgh. The release marks a milestone for a film that began as a two-person project in Dumfries and Galloway, and its route to cinemas has been equally independent.