NEON nabs ‘Gunda,’ farm doc from exec producer Joaquin Phoenix, out of Berlinale

NEON announced today that it has acquired North American rights to Gunda, directed by Victor Kossakovsky, which made its World Premiere in the new competitive section Encounters at the Berlinale, where it was nominated for the Berlinale Documentary Award and debuted to rave reviews. Critics have hailed the black and white film as “mesmerizing” and featuring “astounding beauty.” Sant & Usant produced Gunda, which is a co-production with Louverture Films. Anita Rehoff Larsen produced. Joslyn Barnes and Susan Rockefeller co-produced with Tone Grøttjord-Glenne and Joaquin Phoenix executive producing. 

Where his prior film, the acclaimed epic Aquarela, was a reminder of the fragility of human tenure on earth, in Gunda, master filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky reminds us that we share our planet with billions of other animals. Through encounters with a mother sow (the eponymous Gunda), two ingenious cows, and a scene-stealing, one-legged chicken, Kossakovsky movingly recalibrates our moral universe, reminding us of the inherent value of life and the mystery of all animal consciousness, including our own.

Jeff Deutchman negotiated the deal for NEON along with UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers. Cinephil is handling international sales.

NEON most recently made history with four Academy Award® wins for Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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