How to Navigate the Political Documentary Market: ‘Audiences Want to Watch Something That Engages With the World Around Us’

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At the 2025 CPH:DOX, the documentary film festival held in Copenhagen, a sense of unease was cast due to escalating political tension in the U.S. and certain regions in Europe, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty.

In contrast to the growing importance of truth-revealing and misinformation-challenging nonfiction films, the landscape for political documentaries is distressingly poor, particularly within the United States. However, a beacon of hope emerges with the domestic box office success of “No Other Land,” which has amassed over $1.7 million in earnings despite lacking U.S. distribution.

Keri Putnam, a previous head of the Sundance Institute, thinks that many Americans are eager for more politically-themed content, such as “Not Other Land”, which isn’t easily accessible through traditional streaming platforms.

During a discussion at the CPH:DOX Summit, Putnam expressed his conviction that people have grown tired of consuming generic, algorithmically generated, mainstream content, including sequels and other repetitive material.

At the end of last year, as a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center, Putnam published a report titled “U.S. Independent Film Audience & Landscape.” This extensive study delved into the current independent film scene and discovered a thriving audience of 40 million viewers who have a strong appetite for independent films.

According to Putnam, viewers crave authenticity. They’re interested in content that reflects the real world. Last year, during my research, I discovered that while there is a demand for such work, it’s often difficult for audiences to find. Even on platforms like YouTube, individual pieces can be elusive. There’s a lot of innovative content being created on specific platforms and smaller ones, but due to discoverability issues, these films struggle to reach their intended audience. Putnam hopes that in the future, a strong brand or central hub will emerge to gather enough viewers who can support filmmakers financially and help market their work.

As an ardent advocate, I’m thrilled to share that two of my documentaries, “Everest Dark” and “Coexistence, My Ass!”, have found a home at the prestigious CPH:DOX festival. Currently, these thought-provoking films are on the hunt for distribution, eager to touch hearts and spark conversations worldwide.

Fichman stated, ‘The current times are challenging for all documentaries. It’s clear that there’s a sense of apprehension in the air.’

Fichman, a Canadian production company, emphasized that collaborative film projects with international partners are crucial for success in today’s industry.

In his conversation with EbMaster, Fichman expressed that while there is money available in the U.S., it might not be sufficient to fully finance a film. He emphasized that American funders value proposals more when the filmmakers present a pre-sale from another territory and offer tax credits from their location as well.

Lizzie Gillett, who leads documentaries at Misfits, has been responsible for some recent hit docs such as “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” “Merkel,” and “The Territory.” Currently, she’s in Copenhagen working on her new project, titled “Lowland Kids,” which focuses on climate refugees in the American South. This project is currently looking for distribution.

Gillett stated that it’s become increasingly unrealistic to create an entire film, retain all the rights, and expect a massive sale from a festival. Instead, people are coming to realize that receiving cash directly is significantly more valuable than securing a large global streaming service deal.

Gillett cited a doc she is currently producing titled “Jaripeo” as an example.

According to Gillett, roughly three-quarters of the movie’s budget is already secured through pre-sales. While this means they might miss out on a significant sale to Netflix, it’s a wiser and more practical decision because having multiple broadcasters involved benefits the film. In today’s world, creators are adapting to new ways of financing their projects, requiring increased flexibility and hard work.

Sarah Mosses, the founder and CEO of Together Films, is collaborating with Gillett on “Lowland Kids”. She emphasized that every film, especially political ones, should have contingency plans such as Plan A, B, and C from the start. As it no longer seems feasible to aim for Sundance screenings and sales, she stressed the importance of having a strategy for connecting directly with the audience (B2C) right from the beginning.

In the current marketplace, Dogwoof’s top content executive, Oli Harbottle, emphasized the importance of well-established distribution channels.

Harbottle remarked during a CPH:DOX panel discussion that many parts of the industry were overwhelmed by the surge in documentaries. When streaming platforms arrived, it was a boom period, but now things have calmed down. However, Dogwoof has been operating for 20 years, and our business model, which is based on territories, is deeply rooted and has been with us since our inception.

In January, the distribution rights for the film “2000 Meters in Andriivka,” directed by Ukrainian journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Mstyslav Chernov, who also won an Academy Award for best documentary in 2024 with “20 Days in Mariupol,” were obtained by Dogwoof. This film is currently being screened at CPH:DOX as part of the Frontline production.

Harbottle stated that America appears to find itself in a challenging situation, particularly when it comes to political content, yet many traditional systems remain functional and may still be utilized extensively. Additionally, there are innovative distribution models emerging, like the one represented by Jolt.

Created with the intention of providing a boost to an indie film that has garnered success at international film festivals but hasn’t secured traditional distribution, Jolt was brainstormed by the same team responsible for Impact Partners – a company dedicated to funding documentaries focusing on social issues and boasting one of the largest investment portfolios in the independent nonfiction sector.

In March 2024, a new platform for directly distributing movies to consumers was introduced, and its latest release is “The Bibi Files,” a documentary about Benjamin Netanyahu. Directed by Alexis Bloom and produced by Alex Gibney, this film is now being shown at CPH:DOX.

Geralyn Dreyfous, founder and head of films at Jolt, revealed that the idea for the platform stemmed partly from an intriguing discussion she shared with Reed Hastings, a co-founder and previous CEO of Netflix.

During a CPH:Summit panel, Dreyfous stated that Reed informed him Netflix’s business model had surpassed independent cinema and it would be challenging to acquire more than 20% of anything (Impact Partners) produced or seen at Sundance. According to Reed, the problem was our audiences were too limited and Netflix’s business model had outgrown those audiences. Dreyfous responded by asking, “How small is too small?” To which Reed replied, “Two million.” When Dreyfous asked what the minimum was, Reed answered, “200,000.” This led Dreyfous to think that if some of our films were being viewed by 200,000 people on a platform accessible in over 190 countries, we needed to expand our audience. However, Dreyfous also saw a business opportunity for the 200,000 to two million viewers and questioned, “How do we cultivate that?

The outcome was named Jolt, which doesn’t operate as an acquisition company. Rather than funding filmmakers financially, Jolt offers them an opportunity to showcase their films on a platform that allows them to capitalize on the publicity they gained from specific festivals and maintain the film’s availability for audiences while simultaneously pursuing a distribution deal.

According to Dreyfous, “we’re just getting started,” he added, “it’s been challenging, but we’re gathering valuable insights along the way.

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2025-03-28 14:47