Rise Films lines up Venice debut in packed 20th year

Rise Films is marking its 20th birthday with a crowded release calendar and a first trip to Venice.

The London documentary company founded by Teddy Leifer will debut at the festival in September with Erik Shirai’s Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing, Deadline reported. The film, which offers rare access to Japanese sumo wrestling, has been selected for the Venezia Spotlight section of the festival’s 83rd edition.

The project is an ESPN presentation. Rise Films produced it with Sigrid Dyekjær’s Copenhagen-based Real Lava and Japan’s Generation11.

The Venice slot lands during an already busy run for Rise. Dogwoof has released The Balloonists in UK cinemas after its Toronto 2025 bow. The film follows Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard and British flying instructor Brian Jones as they attempt a nonstop round-the-world trip in a hot-air balloon in 1991.

Two more titles are close behind. Teenage Wasteland, also known as Middletown, was selected for Sundance 2025 and will arrive on Netflix on September 4. Nuisance Bear is set for a fall release after Mubi bought worldwide rights in May.

Leifer told Deadline the burst of releases reflects years of work rather than a sudden sprint, saying some of the films had been in motion for a long time. He said work on Teenage Wasteland began around eight years ago.

From student film to festival regular

Rise began in 2006 with We Are Together, a documentary about children at the Agape Orphanage near Durban, South Africa, who formed a choir after losing parents during the AIDS epidemic.

Leifer and director Paul W. Taylor started the film while they were students at Arts University Bournemouth. Leifer told Deadline that Taylor had returned from volunteering at the orphanage with footage of the children singing and living their daily lives, and asked him to produce it.

The film premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in 2006, where it won the First Appearances and Audience Awards. It later picked up prizes at festivals including Edinburgh, Sheffield Doc and Tribeca, according to Deadline.

The project also led to the creation of the Rise Foundation, which funds education and vocational training for children connected to the orphanage. Leifer said the foundation is still active and has supported more than 30 children and young adults.

Rise went on to produce Kim Longinotto’s Rough Aunties, which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2009, and her 2015 Sundance Directing Award winner Dreamcatcher.

Its wider slate has included Steve James’ Emmy-winning The Interrupters, Kirby Dick’s Oscar-nominated The Invisible War, Bryan Fogel’s Oscar-winning Icarus, David Osit’s Emmy and Peabody winner Mayor, and Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes.

All That Breathes, about two brothers in New Delhi caring for threatened black kites, became the first film to win both Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ best documentary prize in 2022, Deadline reported.

What comes next

Rise sold a majority stake in 2022 to the Paris-based group now known as TF1 Studio. Leifer told Deadline the company has remained independent in practice, with Rise continuing to work from its Fitzrovia offices with a permanent team of about 10.

Current projects include The Delicate, which reunites Leifer with Sen and producer Aman Mann. Deadline reported that it began as a portrait of a New Delhi surgeon before the story changed after the surgeon noticed Sen’s rapid weight loss and diagnosed cancer.

Rise is also working with Rada Studio and Impact Partners on a documentary about actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson from Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson.

Leifer told Deadline he remains hopeful about documentaries despite tighter spending by streamers and pressure on public broadcasters. He said filmmakers still need taste, persistence and timing, adding that luck has played a major role in Rise’s two-decade run.

This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.