A ustralia-based distributor Demand Film has acquired distribution rights in multiple international territories to Sean Cisterna’s feature documentary The Long Rider.

Demand Film will release the doc in early 2023 in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and Ireland. The distribution deal was negotiated between Cisterna’s Ontario-based banner Mythic Productions and Demand Film. Sharon Wisnia of L.A.-based production and management company Mojo Global Arts and Paul Rotz at Demand Film in Toronto represented negotiations for the distributor.

The distribution company will host single-night theatrical event screenings in cinemas in each territory. They will not be doing a week-long theatrical run unless a cinema or exhibitor requests the film. The screenings will take place over a period of time as “we do initial screenings and also host requested screenings where local hosts can bring the film to their city. This is all before home entertainment options,” Rotz tells Playback Daily.

The Long Rider is produced by Aeschylus Poulos and Sonya Di Rienzo of Hawkeye Pictures, Peter Hawkins and Arnon Melo. It chronicles the story of Canadian journalist and long-rider Filipe Masetti Leite’s horseback journey from Calgary to Brazil. It is currently airing on Super Channel in Canada and is a Super Channel Fuse Original.

Cisterna’s 2020 feature From the Vine previously saw international box office success, grossing more than NZ$100,000 (approximately valued at C$93,000 at the time) during its theatrical run in New Zealand.

Demand Film’s goal is to give filmmakers and producers a chance to have their projects screened in cinemas to niche audiences through a crowd-sourcing model. In addition to the initial release dates, moviegoers can request a screening in their local community by placing a film request from their catalogue of films on their website.

The distributor will then create a ticket link for the screening, where moviegoers who are interested in watching it can buy a ticket. A certain amount of tickets must be sold online before the screening can go ahead. If there aren’t enough tickets sold for a particular theatre, the screening doesn’t take place and the moviegoers who reserved tickets will not be charged. “The ticket link shows the number of tickets that have been sold to the public in order to find and activate communities of interest,” Rotz says.

Its recent theatrical runs include Toronto-born filmmaker Rita Leistner’s B.C.-filmed Forest For The Trees, and Mye Hoang’s Cat Daddies.

Cisterna and Kyle Bornais of Manitoba’s Farpoint Films are currently in development on Long Ride Home, a narrative adaptation of the documentary The Long Rider, based on Leite’s bestselling memoir of the same name.

Image courtesy of Hawkeye Pictures