Tuesday 4 October is World Animal Day, the day we give our beloved pets an extra treat. But it is also a day to reflect on all those animals that are not extra pampered by us, the animals that are part of our food chain - like dairy cows.
Therefore, on that day, Rialto presents a pre-premiere of Andrea Arnold's documentary Cow, in which we can see how those animals fare.
Cow
A calf is born. For dairy cow Luma, an experienced mother, this is routine. She licks her newborn calf clean before it is taken away from her. Luma's life is a sequence of insemination, giving birth and being milked.
In Cow, director Andrea Arnold, who previously made Fish Tank and American Honey, among others, follows the daily life of a dairy cow. The camera is so close to Luma's skin that she regularly runs over the filmmaker. The result is an intimate and purely cinematographic portrait of an individual trapped in a cold system.
Andrea Arnold: "The film is an attempt to reflect on cows. To see both the beauty and the misery of their lives. Not in a romantic way, but in a life-like way. It is a film about the daily reality of a dairy cow and the recognition of the great service she provides us."
