World Without Cows — UK Premiere, London

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There are some documentaries that simply present an argument and others that make you stop and think about a subject you may previously have taken for granted. World Without Cows certainly falls into the latter category.

I attended the UK premiere of World Without Cows at the Ham Yard Hotel in London, and from the outset it was clear that this was a very well-made and carefully researched production. It takes a subject that has become increasingly controversial — the place of cattle in our world — and attempts to look beyond the headlines.

© Daren Frankish. All Rights Reserved.

The central question sounds simple enough: what would happen if cows disappeared from the world?

The answer, as the documentary demonstrates, is anything but simple.

Rather than approaching the subject purely from one side, the film travels across different parts of the world to examine the relationship between cattle, people, food production, agriculture and the environment. It looks at the arguments surrounding greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, but importantly it also considers the contribution cattle make to livelihoods, nutrition, farming communities and economies.

That balance was one of the things I particularly appreciated.

This is a subject where it is very easy to arrive at a predetermined conclusion. World Without Cows instead encourages the viewer to listen, consider the evidence and understand that removing something from a complicated global system can have consequences that are not immediately obvious.

The production quality is excellent. Visually, it feels cinematic rather than like a conventional television documentary. The photography is impressive, and the international locations give the film a genuine sense of scale. But the imagery never overwhelms the subject. It remains an informative production first and foremost.

There is also a very human element running through it. Behind statistics about emissions, agriculture and food production are real people whose lives are connected to cattle. For many communities around the world, a cow is considerably more than a source of milk or meat. It can represent income, security, nutrition and, in some places, an important part of culture and tradition.

That wider perspective gives the documentary much of its strength.

It doesn't mean that difficult environmental questions are avoided. Far from it. The impact of cattle farming deserves serious examination, and the documentary addresses those concerns. What it does particularly well, however, is demonstrate why the debate cannot simply be reduced to the idea that cows are either "good" or "bad".

The reality is considerably more complicated.

Watching the film at the Ham Yard Hotel in London also made for an excellent setting for the UK premiere. There is always something different about seeing a documentary like this with an audience rather than watching it alone on a television or laptop. You become more aware of those moments that make people react, think and perhaps reconsider something they believed before entering the screening.

I went into World Without Cows interested in the subject. I came out feeling that I understood considerably more about it.

And perhaps that is the best compliment I can give the filmmakers.

A documentary does not necessarily have to tell its audience what to think. Sometimes its job is to provide enough information, perspectives and questions to allow people to think for themselves.

World Without Cows does exactly that.

It is a very good quality, informative and thought-provoking production, beautifully filmed and ambitious in its scope. Whether you agree with every argument presented or not, it opens up a much broader conversation about cattle, agriculture, climate, food and the complicated relationship between humans and the animals upon which we have depended for thousands of years.

It is certainly a film worth seeing.

By

Daren Frankish