Indox, the non-fiction festival agency led by Luke Brawley, has taken on worldwide festival rights to “Bucks Harbor,” the debut feature documentary from filmmaker Pete Muller. The film will receive its world premiere at the 76th Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama section.
“Bucks Harbor” is a “portrait of masculinity, labor and community in coastal Maine,” according to a statement. It “explores life in a town shaped by brutal winters, generational fishing traditions and rigid cultural expectations of masculinity. Through intimate observational footage, the film charts how men come of age against the unforgiving backdrop of Maine’s Downeast region where strength of body and ability to endure are intertwined with the very definition of worth.”
“ ‘Bucks Harbor’ is a beautifully observed and deeply human film — the kind of documentary that stays with you long after the credits roll,” Brawley said. “Pete Muller brings extraordinary sensitivity to a community rarely seen with this level of intimacy, and we’re thrilled to be partnering on the film’s festival journey, beginning with such a meaningful world premiere at Berlinale.”
The editor is Noel Paul. The cinematographers are Nathan Golon and Muller. The original score is by Nikolaj Hess.
The producers are Muller, Golon and Paul. The executive producers are Kaitlin Yarnall and Greg Moga. The co-producers are Jake Patryn and Morgan Patryn.
Muller is a U.S. visual artist and documentarian, who “uses photography, film and other media to examine issues related to masculinities, conflict and human ecology,” according to his biography.
Since 2017, he has been a Storytelling Fellow at the National Geographic Society. From 2005-2020, he was based in the Middle East and Africa exploring conflict dynamics in post-colonial states.
He has won premier awards from World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, the Overseas Press Club, TIME Magazine and others.
In 2022, he won the Emmy Award for best documentary for his role as co-producer of “The First Wave.”
His photographic work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in London, New York City, Geneva, Cape Town and elsewhere. Muller served as the Cyrus Vance Visiting Professor of International Relations at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.
Brawley was previously festivals manager at non-fiction experts Dogwoof.