NZIFF Q&A from Amy Taylor: MILKED director

How's your 2021 been?

Intense! Finishing this film, raising our seven-year-old son, and working on our off-grid property has kept me too busy. But it’s also super exciting to finally be about to share MILKED with the world.

Give us the elevator pitch for your film in 10 words.

Exposing the whitewash of Aotearoa's multi-billion-dollar dairy industry.

The one moment of your film that stands out - and why

The Farmwatch investigation we joined was really powerful. What makes it stand out even more is the realisation that all the devastation from the industry isn’t even necessary. It’s just something that’s entrenched into society, but it doesn’t have to be this way, and with a massive agricultural disruption on the horizon there’s even less reason to try to hold onto it.

The one moment of your film that you wish you could have changed

It was frustrating that no one from Fonterra or Dairy NZ would do an interview, so we could challenge them in person and try and get some answers, especially about the under-reporting of their greenhouse gas emissions. But in the end their refusal to meet with us says everything really - they're very good at projecting an image, but not so good at being honest.

The one moment of your film that you think audiences will connect to - and why

Everyone loves Tom! He’s a dairy farmer we interviewed who’s just a great person, and very easy to connect with. His story is a really important one, showing the need to give farmers more support. A common preconception about MILKED is that we’re anti-farmers, but that’s not true at all – it’s what they’re farming and how they’re doing it that’s the problem. 

Many of them feel stuck with the situation they’re in, and they need help to transition out of dairy so they can use their land in a more productive, ethical and sustainable way.

The one moment of production during a Covid world that saw you enraged by the pandemic

We were lucky with the timing of the pandemic because we’d completed almost all the filming by then, but home-schooling and trying to edit a complex feature documentary definitely tested my resilience!

The one moment of production during a Covid world that really saw you seize your film's concept and refuse to give up

Once the edit started coming together (and I realised that we had something that was worth all the work that had gone into it) I knew we had to keep going, and get the film out to the widest audience possible. Luckily we’ve had incredible support from some key people, including Suzy Amis Cameron and her husband James Cameron, Keegan Kuhn (co-director of Cowspiracy), and Peter Eastwood from the Tanglewood Foundation.

What's next for you?

Taking a breath, it’s been a busy couple of years! I plan on spending time with family and friends, and getting some sailing time in over summer... then possibly making short films again until I’m ready to work on another feature documentary.

The one film from the 2021 New Zealand International film Festival that everyone should see - apart from yours

Patu! A powerful and important film directed by Merata Mita, and edited by Annie Collins, who helped us with the post-production of MILKED.