SUNDANCE: Sundance Selects Buys 'Buck' Documentary

Courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Selects has purchased North American rights to documentary competition film Buck, from director Cindy Meehl.

The film, about real-life horse whisperer Buck Brannaman, had its world premiere Friday at the Library Theatre. Julie Goldman produced. (Sundance founder Robert Redford starred in and directed an adaptation of the Nicholas Evans novel The Horse Whisperer in 1998; both were inspired by Brannaman.)

"Our entire company has fallen in love with Buck," said Jonathan Sehring, president of Sundance Selects/IFC Films. "Cindy Meehl's funny, deeply inspiring and crowd pleasing film about Buck Brannaman has ignited the passion of audiences in Park City and we're confident the rest of the country will feel the same. This is the perfect film for our new label Sundance Selects and we could not be more excited to help get it out to the widest possible audience."

Sundance Selects/IFC execs Arianna Bocco and Betsy Rodgers negotiated the deal with Josh Braun of Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.

IFC Films sister division Sundance Selects also has Gregg Araki's Kaboom in the Sundance 2011 program, and it picked up Joe Swanberg’s Uncle Kent just before the fest began.