Overview
Rise and Shine World Sales is a Berlin-based international sales agent specializing in creative documentary films. Founded in autumn 2007 as a world sales branch within Kloos and Co. Medien GmbH (the production company established in 2002 by Stefan Kloos and Anja Dziersk), Rise and Shine sells 12 to 16 handpicked documentary films per year to broadcasters and local distributors worldwide. The company operates on a boutique model, taking a maximum of 12 to 16 new films annually and giving each title individual attention through the sales process.
Managing director Stefan Kloos and co-founder Anja Dziersk lead the company, working alongside acquisitions manager Diana Karklin, who has been with the team for 15 years. All three founders come from journalism backgrounds and met in the late 1990s while working in Hamburg at a production company making youth and music TV programmes. Kloos and Co. Medien, the parent production company, has produced award-winning documentaries including the Academy Award-nominated Last Men in Aleppo, Hi, A.I., A Symphony of Noise, and Into the Ice. Rise and Shine also operates a theatrical arm, Rise and Shine Cinema, founded in 2015 for the German market.
The company's client list includes ARTE, ZDF, YLE, DR, RTP, Al Jazeera, SF, ABC, TV3, and Joining the Dots. Rise and Shine sells documentaries worldwide either directly or through partnerships with international colleagues. The team attends all major documentary festivals and markets, with all three members present at IDFA annually, and individual members at CPH:DOX, Sheffield DocFest, Hot Docs, the Berlinale EFM, and Visions du Reel.
Acquisition Model and Documentary Expertise
Rise and Shine typically comes aboard documentaries at the rough cut stage, close to the point where a festival strategy can be developed. This timing allows the company to shape the film's international positioning before its festival premiere while giving filmmakers sales input during the final edit. The company describes its selection criteria as: strong storylines with a clear handwriting and purpose, universal topics seen from personal or local perspectives, youth and pop culture, films that cross traditional boundaries between documentary and fiction or animation, and current affairs with genuine storytelling rather than news reporting.
For documentary filmmakers, Rise and Shine's broadcaster relationships add a revenue stream that fiction-focused sales agents are less equipped to navigate. European public broadcasters including ARTE, ZDF, BBC, SVT, NRK, YLE, and DR are major buyers for quality documentary content. A sales agent with established broadcaster relationships can unlock licensing revenue that supplements theatrical and streaming deals. Films with strong social, political, or cultural subjects that align with public broadcaster documentary programming are the most natural candidates for significant broadcaster licensing revenue.
The company's boutique size is a deliberate choice. As Kloos describes it, each film selected is special to the team, and they do everything to see it "rise and shine." This means filmmakers get direct attention from the founders rather than being handed to a junior sales executive. The trade-off is that Rise and Shine's market leverage is smaller than that of larger sales agents like Dogwoof or Cinetic Media, particularly for broad theatrical deals.
Deal Structure Reputation
Rise and Shine operates on a commission-based sales model, typically taking a percentage of sales revenue rather than charging upfront fees. The company does not offer MG (minimum guarantee) advances to filmmakers. Instead, it acquires completed or near-completed films at the rough cut stage and recoups its sales commission from territorial and broadcaster licensing deals. This is a service-deal structure: Rise and Shine acts as the exclusive international sales agent, handles all territory-by-territory negotiations, and passes through revenue to producers after deducting its commission and any recoupable expenses (subtitling, delivery materials, market screening costs).
Kloos has publicly noted that the documentary sales market has become increasingly difficult, with cinema releases getting harder and broadcasters shifting toward mainstream factual content. The company's response has been to diversify licensing across multiple platform types and territories rather than relying on single large deals. Filmmakers should expect modest, incremental revenue from broadcaster licenses and territorial deals rather than upfront MG payments.
2025-2026 Slate and Recent Sales
Rise and Shine's 2025 slate includes Child of Dust (Weronika Mliczewska, world premiere in Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival main competition, special mention, produced by Bao Nguyen), Ai Weiwei's Turandot (Maxim Derevianko, following the artist as he directs the opera at the Rome Opera House), The Helsinki Effect (Arthur Franck, examining the legacy of the 1975 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe), Blame (Christian Frei, opening Visions du Reel, combining an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 with a look at the role of science under political pressure), and A Sisters' Tale (Leila Amini, Switzerland/France/Iran coproduction, world premiere at Locarno, North American premiere at TIFF 2024, global rights excluding Switzerland).
2024 sales included E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea (sold to Taiwan and Austria), Ms. President (sold to Spain), Of Caravan and the Dogs (sold to Sweden), and The Day Iceland Stood Still (sold to Poland, Spain, Germany, and Japan). The company also reported that The Day the Earth Stood Still (Pamela Hogan) won the Thessaloniki audience award in 2025.
At CPH:DOX 2025, Rise and Shine presented the first Rise and Shine Award, worth EUR 3,000, for the best pitch project with international potential and no sales agent yet attached. The award has no strings attached, meaning the winning project is not required to be represented by Rise and Shine. This initiative reflects the company's commitment to supporting documentary development beyond its own commercial interests.
In February 2026, Rise and Shine acquired In Cod We Trust (dir. Guro Bjerk), a Norwegian documentary about a remote fishing village in Batsfjord, ahead of its world premiere in the Newcomer Competition at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. The film is produced by Benedikte Bredesen at F(X) Productions, co-produced by Finland's Wacky Tie Films. Dziersk cited the film's universal relevance to overfishing and climate change as well as its humor as key acquisition factors. The 2026 slate also includes Menopause Mystery, A World Gone Mad: The War Diaries of Astrid Lindgren, and Cast Off, among others.
Market Challenges and Documentary Sales Reality
Stefan Kloos has publicly noted the challenges facing the documentary sales market, particularly the decline in buyer attendance at markets like the Berlinale EFM. At the 2024 EFM, Kloos observed fewer buyers in Berlin and less focus on documentaries, noting that the Gropius Bau (the primary market venue) felt emptier than in previous years. This market contraction means documentary sales agents must work harder to place films and generate revenue.
For filmmakers, this market reality means that documentary sales are increasingly dependent on broadcaster licensing and targeted territorial deals rather than broad theatrical or streaming sales. Rise and Shine's established broadcaster relationships are a meaningful advantage in this environment, as the company can secure licensing deals that a newer or less connected sales agent might miss. However, filmmakers should have realistic expectations about documentary revenue: most creative documentaries generate income through a combination of broadcaster licenses, modest theatrical deals in key territories, and festival screening fees rather than large streaming or theatrical deals.
What Filmmakers Should Know
Rise and Shine is a realistic acquisition target for documentary filmmakers whose completed films have strong festival potential and genuine international market appeal. The company's Berlin base makes it most accessible at the Berlinale and CPH:DOX, though it acquires throughout the year at all major documentary festivals and markets. The company typically comes aboard at the rough cut stage, so filmmakers should approach Rise and Shine when they have a rough cut assembled, not at the development or production stage.
For documentary filmmakers with films that have completed a first festival run or that are premiering at a major festival, Rise and Shine provides international sales infrastructure with particular broadcaster market strength. The company's boutique size means filmmakers get direct attention from the founding team. The trade-off is that Rise and Shine's leverage in pre-sale negotiations and large streaming deals is limited compared to bigger sales agents.
Filmmakers should prepare a clear festival strategy and understand the documentary sales landscape before approaching the company. Films with universal topics told from personal or local perspectives, strong storytelling, and clear audience targeting are the best fit. Contact Rise and Shine through their website at riseandshine-berlin.de or meet the team at IDFA, CPH:DOX, Sheffield DocFest, Hot Docs, or the Berlinale EFM.
Notable Releases
- Last Men in Aleppo (2017, Firas Fayyad) - Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize winner. Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature. US distribution by Grasshopper Films. Available on Netflix. Produced by parent company Kloos and Co. Medien.
- Iron Butterflies (2023, Roman Liubyi) - Berlinale Panorama selection. Investigative documentary about the MH17 downing over eastern Ukraine.
- Child of Dust (2025, Weronika Mliczewska) - Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival main competition, special mention. Produced by Bao Nguyen.
- Blame (2025, Christian Frei) - Visions du Reel opening film. Investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
- A Sisters' Tale (2024, Leila Amini) - Locarno world premiere, TIFF 2024 North American premiere. Switzerland/France/Iran co-production.
- The Helsinki Effect (2025, Arthur Franck) - Examines the legacy of the 1975 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
2024 sales included E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea (sold to Taiwan and Austria), Ms. President (sold to Spain), Of Caravan and the Dogs (sold to Sweden), and The Day Iceland Stood Still (sold to Poland, Spain, Germany, and Japan). Past catalog includes Nuclear Nomads (Berlinale 2023), STAMS (Berlinale), and Plastic Fantastic (CPH:DOX).
Watch: Trailers and Interviews
See Also
For how European broadcaster licensing generates documentary revenue, see Distribution Deals Explained. For comparable Berlin-based sales agents, see Picture Tree International in this directory. For documentary festivals that serve as acquisition platforms, see the Film Festivals Directory. For modeling documentary revenue from broadcaster licensing and theatrical deals, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator.
