National Geographic Documentary Films has picked up worldwide rights to Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s feature documentary Sugarcane, following its premiere at Sundance in January.

Sugarcane is a Kassie Films and Hedgehog Films production, in association with Impact Partners and Fit Via Vi. First-time director NoiseCat helmed the production, along with Kassie, an Emmy- and Peabody-nominated investigative journalist and filmmaker. Kassie also produced with Kellen Quinn.

The deal with Nat Geo was negotiated by Josh Braun, Matt Burke and Ben Schwartz of Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.

Winner of the directing prize in Sundance’s U.S. documentary competition, the film follows an investigation into abuse and murder at an Indigenous residential school in Canada.

“The courage and compassion of the film participants and filmmakers shines through as together they unearth the traumas of the past and carve out a path to justice and healing in the present,” said Carolyn Bernstein, EVP of National Geographic Documentary Films, in a statement. “It was an honour to witness and experience the profound effect this exquisite film had on the audience at its Sundance Film Festival world premiere.”

This story originally appeared in Realscreen

Image courtesy of Acme PR