CHICAGO — Following premiere events in Dublin, London, Los Angeles and New York, the award-winning documentary World Without Cows arrives in Chicago on Friday, Oct. 9, for an exclusive one-week theatrical engagement at AMC River East 21. Filmmakers Michelle Michael and Brandon Whitworth and
executive producer Mark Lyons, Ph.D., will participate in a special Q&A following the 7:00 p.m. opening-night screening.
Cows are tied to some of the biggest questions facing humanity: how we feed a growing population, protect the planet and provide adequate nutrition in communities around the world. Against a backdrop of climate change, food insecurity and rising protein demand, World Without Cows challenges what we think we know about cows, the environment, our health and the future of our planet.
Through a five-year journey spanning 22 countries and five continents, award-winning journalists Michelle Michael and Brandon Whitworth speak with farmers, ranchers, scientists and environmental experts to explore the complex relationship between food, biodiversity and the people whose lives hang in the balance. What they find is far from simple: when it comes to cows, the story is not black and white.
“The journey showed us that there is no single simple solution to the world’s greatest challenges,” said filmmaker Michelle Michael. “I don’t think the world wants simple answers. It wants a better understanding of how our global food systems work, and that need has never been more urgent than it is right now.”
The film follows Michael and Whitworth from the cattle-filled streets of India and drought-affected grasslands of Kenya to Ireland’s pasture-based dairy country, Brazilian ranchlands and the industrial feedlots of the American heartland. Along the way, they examine cattle’s role in our food systems, environment, economies and everyday lives, while asking a larger question: how can a growing world feed itself without exhausting the land it depends on?
Lyons, who is a University of Chicago graduate, challenged Michael and Whitworth to investigate the true impact of cows by following the science and the story wherever they led.
U.S. THEATRICAL RELEASE TOUR — OCT.14
The Chicago run kicks off the World Without Cows Theatrical Release Tour, which will expand across the region on Wednesday, Oct. 14, with special screenings at select theaters across the states. The Theatrical Release Tour brings the film — and its conversation about food, agriculture, the environment and the future of our planet — to communities at the center of America’s agricultural landscape. Participating locations and ticket information: worldwithoutcows.com
ABOUT WORLD WITHOUT COWS
World Without Cows is directed by Michelle Michael and Brandon Whitworth and written by Michelle Michael, Brandon Whitworth and Josh Tickell, with Mark Lyons serving as executive producer. The film is produced in association with Studio 410 by Michelle Michael, Brandon Whitworth, Susanna Elliott, Alan Henthorne and Josh Tickell. Talain Blanchon edited the film, with music composed by Nathan Horst. Runtime: 81 minutes.
For more information, visit https://WorldWithoutCows.com
PRESS ASSETS
Official trailer
Key art
Images
MEDIA CONTACTS
Allied Global Marketing
Jill Wheeler | jwheeler@alliedglobalmarketing.com
Sarah Stone | sstone@alliedglobalmarketing.com