Pat Kelman, Director of Acquisition, Sales and Operations at 606 Distribution, came to Plymouth Arts Cinema on 16th June to introduce The Old Movie: Lactopalyse. Afterwards, he invited the audience for a Q&A session with him.
Kelman’s journey into film distribution is an unlikely one: he started his career as an English, Drama and Media Studies teacher, before realising his dreams of being an actor in London, subsequently branching into directing. Somewhere in these years a tradition was formed: travelling to Cannes to experience the festival annually, sharing the same apartment (Room 606 – where the company name came from) with the same people each year. In 2018, during one of these trips, he watched Touch Me Not, a Romanian arthouse film/documentary, to which he had “an emotional response unlike any other film at the Festival”. After recommending the film to everyone he met, he was encouraged by friend and eventual 606 Distribution partner to approach a sales agent to bring the film to a wider audience. Although he ended up missing out on this film, this set in motion the foundations for the company, which has brought out a wide range of films, almost all focusing on a subject that is not normally portrayed on screen, due to taboo or a traditional distaste for difficult subjects in cinema.
In 2019, 606 brought out System Crasher, which concerned a 9-year-old German girl with uncontrollable anger caused by childhood trauma, who seems to be unable to be cared for my anyone. Although its release was not explosive (it overlapped with the COVID-19 lockdown), it did launch the international career of main actress Helena Zengel, who went on to work with Tom Hanks in News of the World (2020). In a similar vein, 2022’s Love According to Dalva concerned a 12-year-old French girl making sense of her removal from her home due to her father’s abuse. As I mentioned before, these are, along with The Old Man Movie: Lactopalyse, dealing with subjects that are not usually brought to screen, meaning that they would have been likely to slip through the cracks without being seen by a wider audience, if not for 606’s help. Kelman has stated that he only bids on films that he has an emotional reaction to, meaning that he is more likely to bring more difficult subjects to cinemas.
Another notable addition that 606 Distribution have made to the film industry was coordinating the screening of Olga, a Swiss film concerning an exiled Ukrainian gymnast, in over 400 UK and Irish cinemas in order to fundraise for Ukraine. As it came out around the same time as the invasion, Kelman did not feel comfortable monetising this for his own gain, so, with the help of the BFI, it became a huge fundraising event.
Made in 2019, but only released in the UK this year by 606 Distribution, The Old Man Movie: Lactopalyse is a mind-bending journey to Estonia, which envelopes the viewer into a delightfully silly world of animal fun.
Set in a rural village in Estonia, it centres on three siblings who are left with their grandfather for the summer, a trip neither party are particularly happy about. Although there is some enthusiasm from the youngest child, Mart, the older two are unimpressed with their new schedule of shovelling the pig pen. Aghast at their granddad’s treatment of his prize milking cow, they untie the cow from its tight collar, and accidentally let it out into the rich forest that surrounds the farm. What follows is a mad chase to find the cow to avoid the ‘lactopalyse’ of the title, where a cow’s udder explodes due to not being milked. This journey encompasses a hippy festival, bears and mystic trees, via a lot of jokes about bodily fluids. Although some of the humour is crude, and in some scenes this feels misplaced, this is not the overarching theme. Additionally, because the humour is so physical, the language barrier does not hinder the message of the film. However, there is also clear references to Estonian culture, with proverbs and rock stars patriotically representing it accordingly.
There are some definite echoes of Aardman animations in this film, with the countryside setting and use of plasticine. One thing I found interesting though was that only the heads were moulded from plasticine, presumably to allow for a greater range of expression, whereas the rest of the bodies were made from soft fabric. There is also at times a feeling of old Soviet educational films, especially with the rural idealist setting and the importance of teamwork being highlighted. Directors Mikk Mägi and Oskar Lehemaa, two friends and animation graduates from the prestigious Estonian Academy of Arts have been honing these characters over many years, through their university projects and short films. They also voice many of the characters between them, making it clear that this is a real passion project for both.
Running at 88 mins, this is a whirlwind film, which although being very silly on the outside, there are more serious undertones. One of the main underlying themes to this is that, although the growth in plant-based eating is and will continue to be helpful in the fight against climate change, this movement is mostly focused on cities and developed countries and there are still many communities around the world that have no choice but to rely on animal products. There are also more subtle references to rural unemployment, which bring more of a multi-faceted edge to the film.
Overall, I would say this is a film for those wanting a completely unique take on the environmental crisis, who also like a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Lactopalypse: The Old Man Movie is playing at Plymouth Arts Cinema from Friday 16th – Thursday 22nd June.
Reviewed by Imogen Parkin
