An innocent visit Hook & Son's farm in early 2008 with Andy soon had me hooked on this film. The twinkle in Steve the farmer's eyes when he talked about his farm, his passion for raw milk and the care for his animals was something very special. Here was a farmer who wanted to go the extra mile and here was a character who would make a great film. So despite being about to set off for Germany to make my own feature film Enemy Engagement, I signed on the dotted line and promised to duly return in a couple of years and take up editing duty on The Moo Man. While I was away making my film in Germany, Andy stayed and filmed life on the farm. My other film is a deep, dark story of Stasi spies in the former East Germany so it is quite a contrast to now be sitting at the edit desk fashioning a film about life on an incredible farm, stories about stubborn cows and a farmer struggling just to provide us with good, simple food.
My own film career began in Munich, Germany, studio directing TV shows whilst studying for my Master’s in Political Science. On graduation I produced feature films and documentaries for German public television. After that came the enforced solitude that accompanies the writing of two feature film scripts. These complete it was then fantastic to realise that with the recent developments in technology it’s now possible to pack all the gear we need into a modest car, drive off into the sunset and make the films we always wanted. We did this once with Mr Hardy and it is great to be now doing this again.
My own film career began in Munich, Germany, studio directing TV shows whilst studying for my Master’s in Political Science. On graduation I produced feature films and documentaries for German public television. After that came the enforced solitude that accompanies the writing of two feature film scripts. These complete it was then fantastic to realise that with the recent developments in technology it’s now possible to pack all the gear we need into a modest car, drive off into the sunset and make the films we always wanted. We did this once with Mr Hardy and it is great to be now doing this again.
Andy Heathcote: direction and filming - email: andy[AT]trufflepigfilms[DOT]co[DOT]uk
Heike Bachelier: co-direction and editing
After finishing our first feature film The Lost World of Mr Hardy, I was keen to make an observational documentary - something a bit more seat of your pants. The surprising thing is just how close to home good ideas can be. A few months earlier we found we could have raw milk delivered to our door courtesy of the cows at Hook & son. This milk was really great but what amazed me was that this was something so simple yet so rare. So why is Farmer Hook one of only a handful of farmers selling milk raw? Curiosity led us down a path where there was no turning back and an easy decision to spend the next few years making a film all about Steve Hook and the exploits on his farm. Nothing in the film is set up or planned, everything happens just as it does and because the farm is only fifteen minutes away I have been able to turn up and shoot the moment by moment realities of life on a small organic dairy farm over the last couple of years.
Steve's farm is a place I love to be. Especially at 5 in the morning, down the marshes of the Levels, trying to capture the elusive moment of steam rising from the flanks of cows awakening from their slumbers. It's a moment I remember reading about in Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles many years ago and the image has stuck ever since. For Orson Welles, a sledge was his rosebud for Citizen Kane, well steamy cows are somehow my equivalent.
My career in filmmaking began after a degree in photography and then a move to camerawork, then assistant editing at the BBC and commercials companies in London’s Soho. Film school took me to Lodz, to the renowned Polish Film School. Since then I have directed nearly forty films of all shapes and sizes, won film prizes, and films like “English Goodbye” and “Sound Like Sunlight” have played many of the big film festivals around the world.
Our first full movie project The Lost World of Mr Hardy was a success and very rewarding to make, so we were determined to make another film in the same mould. Roll on The Moo Man.
Steve's farm is a place I love to be. Especially at 5 in the morning, down the marshes of the Levels, trying to capture the elusive moment of steam rising from the flanks of cows awakening from their slumbers. It's a moment I remember reading about in Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles many years ago and the image has stuck ever since. For Orson Welles, a sledge was his rosebud for Citizen Kane, well steamy cows are somehow my equivalent.
My career in filmmaking began after a degree in photography and then a move to camerawork, then assistant editing at the BBC and commercials companies in London’s Soho. Film school took me to Lodz, to the renowned Polish Film School. Since then I have directed nearly forty films of all shapes and sizes, won film prizes, and films like “English Goodbye” and “Sound Like Sunlight” have played many of the big film festivals around the world.
Our first full movie project The Lost World of Mr Hardy was a success and very rewarding to make, so we were determined to make another film in the same mould. Roll on The Moo Man.
