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MetFilm Sales has acquired worldwide sales rights to “Boatbuilders,” Luke Lorentzen’s portrait of a Maine boatbuilding community, which is set to receive its world premiere in the Open Section of the 83rd Venice Intl.
Film Festival on Sept. 7.
MetFilm Sales will present the film to buyers at the upcoming Toronto Intl. Film Festival Market in mid-September. It will have its North America premiere as the opening night film of the Camden Intl. Film Festival on Sept. 17.
“Boatbuilders” is Lorentzen’s third feature documentary, following his Oscar-shortlisted films “Midnight Family” and “A Still Small Voice.”
At the head of a remote Maine harbor, the 60-some workers of the Brooklin Boat Yard coax wooden planks around a frame, make precise saw cuts, and sand edges for flawless joints, resulting in some of the most stunning and sought-after wooden vessels in the world. Over the course of four seasons, Lorentzen tracks the boatbuilders’ meticulous construction of a 56-foot sailboat while embedding us in the lives of these men and their close-knit community.
Mitch Clare, MetFilm Sales, said, “There’s something incredibly profound and timely about watching people come together to create these magnificent boats by hand, and Luke captures the craft, collaboration and beauty of that process in such a remarkable way.”
Lorentzen’s most recent film, “A Still Small Voice,” won the 2023 U.S. Documentary Best Director Award at the Sundance Film Festival. It was listed as one of the best 10 films of the year by the New York Times and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
In 2019, Lorentzen’s “Midnight Family” was also shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature after winning over 35 awards from festivals and organizations around the world, including a Special Jury Award for Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival, Best Editing from the International Documentary Association and the Golden Frog for Best Documentary from Camerimage.
His other work as a director and cinematographer includes the Netflix original series “Last Chance U” (2019), which won an Emmy for Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary.
“Boatbuilders” is produced by Kellen Quinn and Lorentzen for Hedgehog Films. Cinematography and editing is by Lorentzen.
Executive producers are Zach Zuckerman, Robina Riccitiello, Josh Peters, Jonathan Weiner, Meredith Crowley, Chuck Royce, Deborah Royce, Peter Richards, Naia Cucukov, Sabrina Merage, Andrea van Beuren, Dan Janvey and Ben Fowlie. The co-executive producer is Barker Carlock. The associate producer is Oscar Saint Bris.
MetFilm Sales’ non-scripted slate includes Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazic’s “To Hold a Mountain,” winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance earlier in the year, and Tribeca title “The Siege of Paradise,” directed by Gar O’Rourke.
