While Venice and TIFF (at least this year) don’t have dedicated film markets for packages, there are still plenty of indies debuting at the festival that will have theatrical prowess or awards potential for the right buyer.
At the start of the fall film festival season, we identified 15 films that we believe could sell and tried to match them to their perfect distributors. See what else sells and how many we got right below, and on the next page, check out a full scorecard of every film acquired so far and those that came into the fests with distributors already in place.
Both the below and the final scorecard on the next page will be updated as sales come in.
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“Ghost Elephants”
Distributor: Nat Geo
Director: Werner Herzog
Festival: Venice Out of Competition
The latest introspective doc from the German master Werner Herzog is about elephants in the “mist-covered highlands of Angola.” Specifically Herzog is fascinated with the elusive “ghost elephants of Lisima,” potential living descendants of the largest land mammal ever recorded, whom Nat Geo’s own Steve Boyes is determined to prove actually exist.
The film netted Herzog a lifetime achievement award from Venice this year for the film that he directed, wrote, and narrated, and Nat Geo is planning a theatrical release for “Ghost Elephants” prior to it launching on Disney+ and Hulu in 2026.
“Man on the Run”
Distributor: Amazon MGM
Director: Morgan Neville
Festival: Telluride
Though there’s no shortage of Beatles documentaries, this one about Paul McCartney follows Macca after he broke up from The Beatles and how he reinvented himself into the world’s biggest pop star yet again. Any Beatles-head like yours truly will tell you that it didn’t always go well early on and McCartney was arguably in third place behind John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band and George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” triple album full of under-appreciated bangers.
The film will be released theatrically before landing on Prime Video on February 25, and the documentary’s release will coincide with a new book by McCartney, “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run,” releasing November 4, as well as with McCartney’s Got Back tour dates across North America.
“Palestine 36”
Distributor: Watermelon Pictures
Director: Annemarie Jacir
Festival: TIFF Gala Presentations
Director Annemarie Jacir’s period historical drama about the occupation of Mandatory Palestine by the British is the filmmaker’s fourth film that will be submitted to the Best International Feature race at the Oscars by Palestine, and it’s also the first Arab film to land in the Gala section at TIFF.
“Scarlet”
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Festival: Venice Out of Competition
The anime feature from the director of “Mirai” is described as a time-bending adventure about a medieval warrior princess fighting to avenge the death of her father. SPC is releasing it for an awards-qualifying run at the end of 2025 followed by a wider release in early 2026.
Continue Reading: Sales So Far Out of Venice, TIFF, and Telluride: Amazon MGM Lands Paul McCartney Doc ‘Man on the Run,’ Nat Geo Buys Werner Herzog’s ‘Ghost Elephants’
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