Part time farmer Louise Courvoisiers’ debut film, Holy Cow, is centred on a family of struggling farmers in the remote Jura region. Being France, cheese is never far away. 

Teenage Totone’s (Clément Faveau) carefree drinking and cavorting ways are challenged when he suddenly has to provide for his young sister. The family farm is failing and he manages to get a job in the local dairy, however, that is no way to make ends meet. Can he do so by producing an award winning cheese and so win a competition prize? 

Maïwene Barthelemy’s performance is wonderful, as the teenage farmer with whom Totone falls in love. Forcing him to grow up, she challenges his swagger and underlying insecurities. 

The stunning countryside of the hills and verdant fields of the Jura is juxtaposed with hard scrabble rural working class poverty.

The cheesemaking scenes are almost handled with reverence, certainly a great respect for the small-scale artisanal way of life.

It’s a warm hearted coming of age drama with a non-professional cast.

“Faveau gives an amazingly subtle performance; Totone doesn’t say much but his fragility and complexity are all there, humour too in the little shrug of a shoulder.” The Guardian

“[T]the filmmaker skewers romantic idylls by depicting the unglamorous realities of working-class country living.” Sight and Sound