R ecently filmed wildlife documentary Last of the Right Whales has been acquired by Off the Fence, the team behind the Oscar- and BAFTA-winning documentary feature My Octopus Teacher.

Last of the Right Whales, directed by documentary filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza, covers the fight to save the North Atlantic right whale. Produced by Pequeneza’s HitPlay Productions, the film will be released in theatres this fall, and CBC plans to air the documentary in 2022.

Toronto-based HitPlay will retain rights within North America, and has previously confirmed deals with public service channels in Germany and France, SWR and Arte.

“Last of the Right Whales is an important story of hope, impact and action, all of which plays into Off the Fence’s strengths as a distributor,” said Loren Baxter, Off the Fence head of acquisitions, in a press release. OTF is owned by Germany’s ZDF Enterprises.

“Nadine and her team at HitPlay Productions have incredible access and use stunning visuals of these great whales to reinforce why it’s so important we save these animals who are on the brink of extinction,” Baxter continued. “We’re very excited to be working with such a talented team and look forward to bringing this project to our international clients.”

The documentary follows a wildlife photographer, a marine biologist, a whale rescuer and a crab fisherman, working to save the last 400 North Atlantic right whales – one of the most endangered large whale species, at risk due to entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes. The film uses 4K cinematography with character-driven vérité storytelling and access to film the migration of the whales from their breeding ground off the coast of Florida to their new feeding area in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Joanne Jackson (The Woman Who Loves Giraffes) will serve as executive producer on the film along with Sholeh Fabbri serving as impact producer. IndieCan Entertainment will distribute the film in Canada. Partners on the documentary include the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Canadian Wildlife Federation and the Canadian Whale Institute.

Image courtesy of Hitplay Productions

This article originally appeared in Realscreen, written by Andrew Jeffrey