Locarno Competition Title ‘Bogancloch’ Acquired by Cinema Guild for North American Distribution (EXCLUSIVE)

Cinema Guild has acquired North American distribution rights to “Bogancloch,” the latest feature from acclaimed British filmmaker Ben Rivers.

The meditative documentary, which premiered in competition at last year’s Locarno Film Festival, follows Jake Williams, a modern-day hermit living in Scotland’s remote Highlands. Shot on 16mm over multiple seasons, the film serves as a follow-up to Rivers’ 2011 documentary “Two Years at Sea,” revisiting Williams a decade later to observe the evolution of his solitary lifestyle.

The film has made the festival rounds since its Locarno competition debut, with screenings at Edinburgh International Film Festival, Viennale, CPH:DOX, Cinéma du Réel, Tokyo International Film Festival, Festival dei Popoli, and MoMA’s Doc Fortnight.

“Bogancloch” is produced by Rivers himself alongside Sarah Neely and John Archer, with co-producers Zsuzsanna Király and Hanna Björk Valsdóttir. The project received funding from Screen Scotland, the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, and the Icelandic Film Centre.

The deal was negotiated by Kelly with Meng Xie and Fen Chen of Rediance, the film’s international sales agent. The film is currently being represented by Rediance at the Cannes Film Market.

“Ben Rivers has long been one of the most singular and visionary voices in contemporary cinema,” said Cinema Guild president Peter Kelly. “With ‘Bogancloch,’ he delivers a quietly mesmerizing and visually exquisite meditation on solitude, time, and the natural world – an experience that lingers long after the final frame.”

Rivers added: “I’m thrilled for ‘Bogancloch’ to find its home with Cinema Guild. Our collaboration on ‘Two Years at Sea’ was a meaningful one, and it feels especially right to return to that relationship with this film.”

Cinema Guild plans to open the film at Anthology Film Archives this summer before rolling it out to theaters nationwide. The distributor’s upcoming slate includes Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s “The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire,” Hong Sangsoo’s “By the Stream,” and retrospectives of French filmmaker Luc Moullet and João César Monteiro’s films in 4K restoration. Recent releases include Matías Piñeiro’s “You Burn Me” and a new restoration of Shinji Somai’s “Moving, Love Hotel.”