Spotting – in the nick of time – that an over-curious cow is about to stand on some ‘very expensive’ camera equipment proved to be just one ‘all-in-a-day’s work’ experience for Tea Smart and fellow filmmakers Ben Arthur and Joe Morgan during 15 months of shooting their new documentary. Tea chuckles – and is relieved they never needed to explain the caper to an insurance company.
Cotswolds: Field & Folk, created in partnership with Cotswolds National Landscape (CNL) as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations of designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, captures the stories of farmers, growers and local rural people through the seasons.
Countryside scenes are gorgeous, from hilltop farms to rivers and meadows, but the crew’s motivation was to dig deeper, to ‘dispel myths’ and reveal the reality of a changing landscape alongside the challenges faced by those who care for it and are working hard to positively shape its future.
Tea, a photographer and filmmaker based in the south Cotswolds, says she is driven by a ‘commitment to storytelling and giving people a voice through my work’. The idea for the documentary was hatched in 2023, shooting began in July 2024, and she carried out 18 interviews across 14 different locations. Conversations mostly took place outdoors in protagonists’ working environments so that it feels like you are eavesdropping on personal reflections: getting to the truth, the passion, the struggles and the hopes of the ‘Folk’.
EYE-OPENING
While she has plenty of experience of smaller-scale productions, Cotswolds: Field & Folk was to be Tea’s directing debut for a feature-length documentary and there were lots of highs, lows and lessons, she says.
‘Communication was key, getting people to trust us to tell their story in the most accurate way possible, making sure everyone was in the right place at the right moment for filming.’
Tea’s master spreadsheet plotted every detail and, despite the fluid nature of dealing with animals and weather, plans were thwarted just a couple of times.
‘We wanted to be as immersive in nature as possible, so we often filmed while surrounded by sheep and cows. Mostly it worked out,’ Tea continues, still shuddering at the recollection of the cow-camera encounter.
She beams as she recalls hopping onto a quad bike with Gloucestershire-based shepherdess and educator Abby Cook to film her at work during lambing: ‘Seeing lambs, born just minutes earlier, getting to their feet, and watching sheepdogs working were really eye-opening, such a great experience.’
Another shoot with Abby – planned to highlight autumn amid falling leaves in November 2024 – was turned on its head by a sudden snowstorm, but interviewing proceeded as everyone shivered in a white field. ‘It actually played really well into the film,’ says Tea.
‘Because Abby talked about changing seasons, climate change and its impact.’
A relatively wet 2024 and the UK’s warmest summer on record in 2025 brought discussions of volatile weather and how farmers can struggle to deal with it to the fore. ‘We have lots of drone footage of the Cotswolds in summer generally looking like Spain; grass had died and everything was brown,’ Tea says.
‘We have a moment in the film where we go: “This could be our new reality with climate change”. It’s a reality check that we hope gives people food for thought.’
Talking with Abby, Tea was shocked to learn how little sheep’s wool is valued as a commodity today – ironic, given the legacy of medieval wool wealth around the Cotswolds – but she is heartened by pushback to create new markets. The resilience, commitment and passion of protagonists in the film really struck her, she says.
‘My expectations of what farming was about had been an image of old men on tractors,’ she admits ruefully.
‘I could not have been more wrong. I learnt that you can be a woman in farming and I met such incredible powerhouses like Abby, Lucy [fourth-generation farmer with her family at Bredon Hill] and Lydia [with Clive, seventh-generation custodians of land, Homegrown at Hampen].
‘That has really changed my perspective.When it comes to what is actually involved in custodianship and land management, I’ve learnt so much too.
‘People we’ve talked to are enthusiastic for change in farming and it is really exciting to witness farmers looking at regenerative practices, thinking about our health, thinking about our communities.
‘Jonty Brunyee showing us around Conygree Farm [in Aldsworth] so that we finally understood what regenerative agriculture means and capturing that on camera, in a way that will hopefully make a difference to other people’s understanding, felt really special.
‘Also talking to CNL’s Glorious Cotswold Grasslands team about bringing back wildflower meadows and diversity gave me a real respect for people who are putting in the effort to look after the landscape and its future.’
The team had ‘a proper panic halfway through production’ when looking for a suitable editor, but through a mutual friend they found Callum Read who has ‘done an amazing job’ crystallising 140 hours of scenes into the final feature-length documentary. Music from Will Lawton and Ludwig Mack adds atmospheric soundtracks.
‘Successful collaboration was up there with the highs of making the film,’ Tea says. ‘And having Ben and Joe by my side, bouncing ideas, giving support, has been great. I’ve really grown in confidence.’
Cotswolds: Field & Folk has already been submitted to film festivals and a shortened version has been toured around secondary schools in the Cotswolds as part of a CNL-led outreach programme, with Q&A panel sessions afterwards. ‘The response from students has been really positive, they asked really insightful questions,’ Tea says.
From July the film embarks on a Summer Screening Tour (including more Q&A sessions) at venues around the Cotswolds, from the Royal Agricultural University to Stroud Brewery and Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham, the latter also a celebratory event to mark CNL’s 60th anniversary.
There is still time for more groups to book a screening, Tea says. ‘We’ve got a screening kit that we are touring with, so we can show it anywhere to any community. We really want the film to spark conversations and get people thinking about the landscape.’.
SEE THE FILM
For more about Cotswolds: Field & Folk, dates/venues for the Cotswolds Summer Screening Tour, and to book a screening, visit cotswoldsfilm.co.uk
‘It feels like you are eavesdropping on personal reflections: getting to the truth, the passion’
