Sundance Winner ‘Motherland’ Acquired By FilmRise

Motherland, the documentary that won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival this year, has been acquired by FilmRise. The deal for North American distribution rights to Ramona S. Diaz’s film will mean a summer theatrical release via The Film Collaborative ahead of its fall premiere on PBS’ POV.

Motherland is set at one of the world’s largest and busiest maternity hospitals in the Philippines. Diaz follows three women as they navigate through the severe conditions of giving birth there — from jam-packed delivery rooms to overflowing corridors where babies are misplaced and then found.

The docu, which also screened at the Berlin Film Festival in the Forum section, was sold by London-based Dogwoof and will be part of Amazon Video Direct’s Film Festival Stars program. Diaz and Rey Cuerdo produced, and Brillante Ma Mendoza, Sally Jo Fifer, Justine Nagan and Chris White are exec producers.

FilmRise’s Danny Fisher and Max Einhorn negotiated the deal with Dogwoof head of sales Anna Vicente.