Dogwoof picks up four IDFA titles, including winner Planet of Snail

UK distributor Dogwoof has snapped up four feature documentaries during the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), which ended this weeked.
 
Among its acquisitions is the festival’s winning film, Planet Of Snail by South Korean director Seung-Jun Yi. Sold by Catherine Le Clef’s CAT & Docs, the film is a portrait of Young-Chan, who has been deaf and blind since childhood. He is utterly isolated from the outside world until he meets Soon-Ho, who also has a physical handicap. They communicate largely by tapping on each other’s hands, like playing the piano.
 
Also new on Dogwoof’s slate is The Island President, the acclaimed new film from US director Jon Shenk that received its European Premiere in IDFA’s Green Screen Documentary Competition. This tells the story of Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed, who became the first freely elected President of the Maldives in 2008 and promptly began to lobby furiously for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. As he pushed “carbon neutral” politics, he became famous for his stunts, which included holding his first cabinet meeting underwater. The film is sold by Films Transit.
 
As IDFA ended, Dogwoof confirmed it had also picked up Semper Fi: Always Faithful, another international premiere in the Green Screen Doc Competition. Sold by CAT & Docs, this is the story of a US marine fighting for justice after leaked chemicals play a part in the death of his daughter.
 
The fourth new Dogwoof pick-up is Kate Galloway and Kelly Duane De La Vega’s Better This World, a world premiere at SXSW earlier this year. The film is about two Texans controversially entrapped by the FBI on terrorism offences.
 
All four films are expected to receive theatrical releases in the coming months.