Sales So Far Out of Venice, TIFF, and Telluride

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 festivala 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.

“Poetic License”
Distributor: Row K Entertainment
Director: Maude Apatow
Festival: TIFF Special Presentation
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, nor does it appear to fall past Row K. Maude Apatow’s directorial debut shares many of the hallmarks of her father Judd Apatow’s best comedies, and it’s a coming-of-age story that IndieWire out of its TIFF debut called “utterly delightful” and featuring show-stealing performances from Cooper Hoffman and Andrew Barth Feldman, all alongside Apatow’s mom Leslie Mann. The film follows a soon-to-be empty nester whose family relocates to an unfamiliar new town and where she becomes the obsession of two college seniors and best friends each vying for her attention. Row K reportedly bought the film in a competitive situation in the mid 7-figures range. While it’s the third festival premiere that Row K picked up, making them the breakout new distributor on the market, it also recently bought “Cliffhanger,” the splashy action remake starring Pierce Brosnan and Lily James that screened as a market title at TIFF.

“Cover-Up”
Distributor: Netflix
Director: Laura Poitros and Mark Obenhaus
Festival: Venice Out of Competition
IndieWire’s Anne Thompson exclusively broke the news that Netflix made a splash for the searing and “unflinching” portrait of a Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh and his history of investigative reporting. Netflix is intending to release the acclaimed documentary later this year as a major player in the Best Documentary Feature awards chase.

“Normal”
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Director: Ben Wheatley
Festival: TIFF Midnight Madness
Bob Odenkirk’s latest action outing will be released by Magnolia Pictures, which is eyeing a 2026 theatrical berth for the Ben Wheatley-directed film. Fresh off “Nobody 2,” the film sees Odenkirk starring as “an unassuming substitute sheriff with a troubled past who, after moving to a small, sleepy town, responds to a bank robbery and unknowingly uncovers something far more explosive.” Henry Winkler and Lena Headey also star.

“The Tale of Silyan”
Distributor: National Geographic Documentary Films
Director: Tamara Kotevska
Festival: Venice Out of Competition, TIFF Docs
Winner of the “Best Film” Cinema and Arts Award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, “The Tale of Silyan” is a poignant and visually arresting story set in the heart of rural North Macedonia. It follows Nikola, a farmer grappling with the harsh realities of new government policies, who unexpectedly encounters an injured white stork he names Silyan. As he nurses the bird back to health, an unlikely bond forms between man and animal. The film comes from “Honeyland” director Tamara Kotevska and has been selected to represent North Macedonia in International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. National Geographic Documentary Films will roll out “The Tale of Silyan” at festivals around the world before releasing it in theaters ahead of its global streaming debut on Disney+.

“Erupcja”
Distributor: 1-2 Special
Director: Pete Ohs
Festival: TIFF Centrepiece
Look at those upstart distributors buying all the buzzy titles! We figured this film, despite its ultra-indie look done guerilla-style through Poland, would be a hot one because it’s the first lead role for pop sensation Charli XCX. 1-2 Special announced it acquired North American rights and will release the film next year. Charli XCX stars alongside playwright Jeremy O. Harris, Will Madden, and newcomer Lena Góra, and it’s a love triangle romance and existential journey brought about after a volcano erupts in Warsaw. The entire cast also contributed to the screenplay, and it also features a musical score by Charles Watson of the band Slow Club, and Isabella Summers of Florence + the Machine.

“Charlie Harper”
Distributor: Row K Entertainment
Director: Tom Dean and Mac Eldridge
Festival: TIFF Special Presentation
Brand-new distributor Row K Entertainment is immediately staking its claim by now buying not just one but two films that landed among our hot sales titles. For “Charlie Harper,” this too will be released theatrically in the U.S. after we predicted it could have a strong home at a streamer and appeal to a teen audience. The romance film, the directorial debut of screenwriter Tom Dean, stars Emilia Jones and Nick Robinson as two young adults in a relationship spread out over roughly a decade. It sees them start as a passionate fling before trying to make it in New Orleans and navigate Robinson’s character’s lack of ambition and struggle with substance abuse. Our critic in his review said the sincerity of the direction and the performances helped it win out over some of the cliches.

“The Stranger”
Distributor: Music Box Films
Director: François Ozon
Festival: Venice Competition
The French director of films like “In the House” and “Young & Beautiful” for his latest feature adapted a novel by Albert Camus, telling a story set in 1938 Algiers and following a man who after his mother dies begins a casual affair with a work colleague, only to have his new daily routine disrupted by a neighbor who draws him back into some shady dealings. The beautifully lensed black and white film stars Benjamin Voisin alongside Rebecca Marder Pierre Lotin, Denis Lavant, and Swann Arlaud. The Chicago-based Music Box Films has now distributed seven of Ozon’s films over the years, and while Music Box hasn’t yet set a release date, Gaumont is handling the French release on October 29.

“Dead Man’s Wire”
Distributor: Row K Entertainment
Director: Gus Van Sant
Festival: Venice Out of Competition
Gus Van Sant’s best chance at a return to awards season in a long time was picked up by a brand new distributor with something to prove. Row K Entertainment, which is a theatrical distribution company founded just last month, acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the period thriller from Pressman Film that earned comparisons to “Dog Day Afternoon.” No release plans were announced just yet but it would not be a surprise if the movie was raced out into theaters later this fall.

Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Cary Elwes, Myha’la, Colman Domingo, and Al Pacino star in the film that’s based on the true story of a man who in 1977 kidnapped a loan officer and held him hostage with a shotgun, turning him into an outlaw folk hero. Row K is a branch of Media Capital Technologies, which has been around since 2019 and since 2023 has had a deal co-financing movies with Lionsgate. Like Black Bear, it’s a financier-turned-distributor that senses a need in the market.

“Christy”
Distributor: Black Bear
Director: David Michôd
Festival: TIFF Special Presentation
When you have a movie as big as “Christy,” with Sydney Sweeney starring as a boxer in a potentially transformational role, and you also happen to be launching your own theatrical distribution wing, why not release it yourself? Black Bear, which produced and financed “Christy,” will also theatrically distribute it as the company’s inaugural feature under a newly launched division, exactly as we predicted could be a possibility. Black Bear has even set a prime release date for the fall awards season of November 7, 2025.

“Christy” is directed by Michôd, who co-wrote the screenplay with filmmaker Mirrah Foulkes from a story by Katherine Fugate. The film is the true story of boxer Christy Martin, who came from humble roots and held the female super welterweight title. The film also stars Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, and Katy O’Brien.

“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: Maude Apatow’s Directorial Debut ‘Poetic License’ Is Row K’s 3rd Festival Acquisition
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