Conic acquires IDFA title ‘The Shepherd And The Bear’ for UK-Ireland distribution

EXCLUSIVE: Conic has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Max Keegan’s documentary The Shepherd And The Bear.

The distributor is scheduling a theatrical release for early 2026.

Keegan’s directorial debut is set in the French Pyrenees mountains, and depicts an ageing shepherd struggling to find a successor as brown bears prey on his flock; and a teenage boy who becomes obsessed with tracking the bears.

The film debuted as the closing night film of Camden Film Festival in the US in September 2024, going on to play International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November that year.

It is produced by Elizabeth Woodward for Willa, Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine for Mile End Films, and Keegan for Salthill Films, all of the US. Executive producers are Jenny Raskin and Kelsey Koenig for Impact Partners, Jessamine Burgum and Kara Durrett for Pinky Promise Films, Johannes Arver, Emily Reedy, Bill Reedy, Robina Riccitello, Nancy Stephens, Rick Rosenthal, Andrea van Beuren and Christine Woodhouse.

Willa is handling international sales on the film, with Submarine Entertainment handling North American rights.

UK-Irish filmmaker Keegan is based in West Sussex. He learned to speak French fluently from scratch for The Shepherd And The Bear, and spent two years living in the Pyrenees with his subjects.

Woodward was recently an executive producer on Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice Of Hind Rajab.

• UK-Ireland box office up 18% in September compared to previous year