Doc & Film International

Overview

Doc & Film International is a Paris-based international sales agent founded in 1996 by a pool of French production companies including Agat Films & Cie, 3B Productions, Les Films d'Ici, AMIP, Archipel 33, Ex Nihilo, JBA Productions, Lapsus, and TS Productions. The company operates from 13 rue Portefoin in Paris's 3rd arrondissement and maintains a catalog of more than 800 titles spanning documentary, fiction, and television content. In 2008, Daniela Elstner joined as managing director and shareholder, expanding the company's activities from TV documentary sales into international sales of feature films and feature-length documentaries. Under her leadership, Doc & Film built relationships with directors including Gianfranco Rosi, Chantal Akerman, Jacques Doillon, Nicolas Philibert, Bruno Dumont, Adina Pintilie, and Fien Troch.

In 2019, Elstner departed to become managing director of Unifrance, and Paris-based sales and distribution company Jour2Fete (co-founded by Sarah Chazelle and Etienne Ollagnier in 2006) acquired Doc & Film International. The combined entity continued attending major markets under the Doc & Film label, with sales managers Clemence Lavigne and Emmanuel Pisarra handling cinema sales, and Gorka Gallier and Suzanne Nodale handling TV and VOD sales.

The company attends the Marche du Film at Cannes, the European Film Market at Berlinale, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, AFM, and Sunny Side of the Doc. Its dual focus on documentary and arthouse fiction gives it a breadth unusual among specialty sales agents of its size.

Notable Films and Festival Track Record

Doc & Film International has represented two Berlinale Golden Bear winners: Gianfranco Rosi's Fire at Sea (2016), which also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature, and Adina Pintilie's Touch Me Not (2018). Rosi's Sacro GRA won the Venice Golden Lion in 2013, making it another high-profile title in the catalog. Other notable films sold by Doc & Film include El Sicario, Room 164 (Gianfranco Rosi), Home (Fien Troch), As I Open My Eyes (Leyla Bouzid), Violette (Martin Provost), The Minister (Pierre Schoeller), House of Cardin (premiered at Venice), and Two of Us (premiered at TIFF 2019, France's Oscar submission for Best International Feature Film).

Fire at Sea sold to Kino Lorber for US distribution, with Kino Lorber subsequently signing a deal for all of Rosi's films. House of Cardin sold to territories including Italy (I-Wonder Pictures), China (DDDream International), Japan (New Select), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), Australia and New Zealand (Umbrella Entertainment), and Brazil (Imovision), plus television deals with SVT (Sweden) and Siminn (Iceland). Two of Us sold to Germany (Weltkino Filmverleih), Austria (Filmladen), Italy (Teodora Film), Finland (Cinema Mondo), Spain (Karma Films), Brazil (Imovision), and Australia/New Zealand (Vendetta).

Broadcaster Relationships and European Co-Financing

European documentary sales depend heavily on broadcaster licensing as a revenue stream. Public broadcasters including Arte, ZDF, BBC, DR (Denmark), NRK (Norway), SVT (Sweden), and YLE (Finland) regularly pre-purchase and license documentary features, providing both financing during production and distribution reach after completion. Doc & Film's Paris base gives it direct access to Arte (the French-German cultural broadcaster) and France Televisions as co-financing and licensing partners. Arte is one of the most significant co-financiers for European creative documentary, and Doc & Film's broadcaster relationships allow it to assemble multi-broadcaster licensing deals covering much of the European territory map through a single sales relationship.

For documentary filmmakers whose films qualify for Arte or BBC co-production, Doc & Film's ability to pursue broadcaster deals in parallel with theatrical sales is a concrete advantage over sales companies without comparable broadcaster access. The company can secure pre-sales to multiple European broadcasters before a film's festival premiere, reducing the financing gap for production.

Deal Structure and Acquisition Model

Doc & Film typically acquires finished films at festivals or takes on projects in development where broadcaster pre-sales can be assembled. The company does not publicly disclose standard minimum guarantee (MG) figures, but as a mid-size European sales agent handling auteur cinema, MGs generally fall below those of larger sales companies like Wild Bunch, Pathé, or Films Boutique. For documentary features with strong festival selection, MGs from European sales agents of this size typically range from EUR 20,000 to EUR 80,000 depending on territory pre-sales attached.

The company's revenue model relies on combining theatrical sales in individual territories (typically EUR 15,000 to EUR 50,000 per territory for arthouse documentary) with broadcaster licensing deals (EUR 10,000 to EUR 50,000 per broadcaster for documentary features) and digital/VOD sales. For films with strong political or social subject matter, Doc & Film can also pursue impact-oriented broadcast deals and educational licensing that extend revenue beyond the initial theatrical window.

What Filmmakers Should Know

Doc & Film is a realistic representation target for documentary and arthouse fiction filmmakers with films that have screened or been selected at major international festivals, particularly IDFA, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Cannes, Berlinale, and Venice. The company's dual documentary-fiction mandate makes it accessible for filmmakers working in hybrid modes alongside conventional narrative or observational documentary.

For filmmakers seeking French or European broadcaster co-financing, Doc & Film's relationships with Arte and France Televisions are a concrete asset. A representation agreement can include active co-financing discussions for qualifying projects in development, not just sales representation for completed films. The company's Paris location means it is most effective for films targeting European theatrical and broadcaster markets. North American and Asian sales are handled through market presence at AFM and dedicated outreach to US distributors like Kino Lorber, Icarus Films, and Cinema Guild.

Filmmakers should approach Doc & Film through a producer or sales agent introduction, or directly via the contact information on their website. The company evaluates films based on festival potential, director track record, broadcaster appeal, and the film's capacity to generate territory-by-territory theatrical and broadcast revenue.

Markets and Festival Presence

Doc & Film attends the following markets and festivals annually: Marche du Film (Cannes, May), European Film Market at Berlinale (February), IDFA (Amsterdam, November), CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, March), Hot Docs (Toronto, April-May), AFM (Santa Monica, November), and Sunny Side of the Doc (La Rochelle, June). The company also tracks selections at Venice, Toronto, Locarno, San Sebastian, and Karlovy Vary for acquisition opportunities.

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See Also

For how European documentary co-financing and broadcaster licensing works alongside theatrical distribution, see Documentary Financing: Building Your Stack. To model the revenue from French and European broadcaster licensing combined with territory-by-territory theatrical sales, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator. For comparable European documentary sales agents, see Dogwoof Sales and Cinema Guild in this directory.