Giant Pictures is entering the educational market through a distribution partnership with Collective Eye Films.
The two companies will jointly distribute independent documentaries to the educational market. Films also will be available through digital retailers like iTunes, Amazon, FandangoNow as well as educational streaming services such as Kanopy and various SVOD/AVOD platforms.
The multiyear agreement kicks off with The Passengers, a feature documentary that tells the story of the final community of Ethiopian Jews and its struggle to emigrate to Israel. The film was an Official Selection of the IDA 2019 and the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival 2020.
Other titles headed for joint digital and streaming distribution include The Vanishing Trial, a documentary produced by the NADCL and FAMM about the issues with mandatory minimum sentencing, and The Burning Field, a look at life in an environmental wasteland through the eyes of four young Ghanaians. The Burning Field, from filmmaker Justin Weinrich, won the Asja.energy Award for Best International Documentary and was named Best Environmental Film by Docs Without Borders in 2019 and Best Documentary at the Eugene Film Festival 2020.
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Collective Eye Films also will handle educational market sales, outside of streaming, on select library titles from Giant Pictures, such as Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks, on the history of Hong Kong martial arts cinema and its influence; Our New President, the story of Donald Trump’s election told entirely through Russian propaganda; The Panama Papers, an exposé of the rogue offshore finance industry from director Alex Winter; Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook, about voter suppression in U.S. presidential elections; and There’s Something in the Water, from producer Ellen Page, on the struggle of minority communities in Nova Scotia as they fight officials over the lethal effects of industrial waste.
“These films are ideally suited for online learning, a market that has really flourished during the pandemic,” says Nick Savva, GM of Giant Pictures.
“The documentary collection at Giant Interactive is well suited for our audience. Our goal is to bring impactful films to classrooms around the world,” said James-Michael Boyer, director of operations at Collective Eye Films.