Rise and Shine boards 'Women and War' ahead of IDFA competition premiere
Rise and Shine World Sales has acquired international rights to 'Women and War', director Elwira Niewiera's documentary about four Ukrainian survivors of war crimes, as reported by Variety. The deal covers licensing the film to distributors and broadcasters outside its producing countries. It was concluded ahead of the film's first public screening.
The film follows Olena, Yuliia, Iryna and Lena. All four survived war crimes and are taking part in trauma therapy in the Ukrainian mountains, according to Variety. The sessions take place in a chalet, IDFA's programme notes say. It runs 103 minutes.
'Women and War' will have its world premiere in International Competition at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, according to Variety. International Competition is the festival's main competitive section for feature-length documentaries. The festival, known as IDFA, runs Nov. 12-22. The 2026 title is listed in that section by IDFA.
The producers are Hans Robert Eisenhauer for Ventana Film, Maciej Kubicki for Telemark and Natalia Krasilnikova for Art Dialogue, according to Variety. The film was co-produced with ZDF and TVP, in cooperation with ARTE. That structure is common for European documentaries, where broadcasters join production companies to finance films for cinema and television transmission.
Niewiera is a Polish/German director and screenwriter based in Berlin, according to the Jacob Burns Film Center. Her previous directing credits include 'The Hamlet Syndrome' from 2022, 'The Prince and the Dybbuk' from 2017 and 'The Domino Effect' from 2014, according to Variety. Her films have been shown at more than 50 festivals worldwide, the Center said.
For buyers and festival programmers, Amsterdam is often the first test. A competition premiere brings press screenings, industry meetings and the first offers from distributors. Rise and Shine will now handle those conversations on behalf of the production team.
