How do 18 cows get labeled a threat to national security? And how do the cows feel about this, exactly? Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan set out to answer both questions with this doc about an absurdist footnote in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In a film defying all labels with its mix of talking heads, claymation, and reenactments, we travel back to 1988, when defiant townspeople in the Occupied Territories created a dairy collective as a step towards economic independence. It was so successful that the army declared the cows a threat to Israel’s national security. The cows were forced to produce their “Intifada milk” underground, with the Israeli army in relentless pursuit. An inspirational tribute to the way nonviolent struggle can inspire hope, even in the darkest times.
